Also sports fans will be well catered in Barcelona. You can find several attractions that won’t let any sport fanatic untouched: the Olympic Stadium, with the nearby Olympic Sports Museum and Camp Nou, the home port of FC Barcelona with the Barça Museum.

The Olympic Stadium

On the hill of Montjuïc, next to Palau Sant Jordi, you’ll find the Olympic Stadium. It was built by the architect Pere Domènech i Roura for the World Fair of 1929. On the occasion of the allotment of the Olympic Games of 1992 to Barcelona it was renovated completely. Actually the stadium was tore down completely, only the front walls kept standing. The complex’s level was placed 11 meters lower and the stones that were excavated, were being used with the built of the Segrada Familia. This because stones coming from the hill of Montjuïc are of high quality.

In 1992 is was the place where the opening and closing ceremony of the athletic competition of the Olympic Games was held. Till 2001 the official name of the stadium was Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc. In 2001 is was renamed to Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, as a homage to the president of Catalonia that in 1940, at the end of the Spanish civil war, was executed by a military court of dictator Franco.

Near the Olympic Stadium you’ll find Museu Olímpic i de l’Esports, also called Museum Joan Antoni Samaranch. This museum wants to sketch an image of the history of sports and al its disciplines in a playful and educative way. It features an interactive room that is equipped with advanced technological applications.

In this museum all facets of sports are being explained: sport as recreation, in competition, top sports and sports for handicapped. They don’t want to only incite you to sport, but also spread the values of sport and the Olympic thought. You can also regularly visit temporary exhibitions. For more information about that, you can visit the website of the Museu Olímpuc i de l’Esports.

Camp Nou

In the quarter Les Corts you’ll find another popular attraction; Camp Nou. It isn’t only the home base of football club FC Barcelona,  but also that of the basketball, handball, hockey and futsal clubs of Barça. Moreover it is the head office of the Fundació FC Barcelona, a foundation that organizes solidary, cultural and educative activities. When this stadium was inaugurated in 1957, it got the name Estadi del FC Barcelona. Popularly it was called Camp Nou (new field), because it was the replacement of the old Barça stadium situated in the same quarter. In 2001 the stadium officially got the name Campn Nou after a plebiscite. The stadium can accommodate up to 99.354 spectators and is within Europe the stadium with the biggest capacity and 10th worldwide.

Near Camp Nou you’ll find the Museum of Barça. You can watch the many trophies and there’s also a 8,5 meter long wall with information about the history, the players, the foundation and so on. Next to that you’ll find 4 rooms in which the fundamental values of the club “més que un club” (“more than a club”) are being explained: the Catalan identity, universality, social responsibility and democracy. Here you also find temporary exhibitions. More information about this you’ll find on the website of FC Barcelona.

A small marginal note: with a combination ticket for the Museum of Barça you also get access to the exhibition halls, the multi media room and Camp Nou itself.  With a audio guide you get all the information about the club’s history and lots of fun anecdotes. These audio guides are available in Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian, German and Dutch.

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