Arena Civica

Arena Civica

Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse, the world’s first female parachutist, drops into the Arena in 1824
Former names	Arena del Foro Bonaparte, Arena Civica
Location	Parco Sempione, Milan
Owner	Comune di Milano (city council)
Capacity	10,000
Construction
Broke ground	1806
Opened	18 August 1807
Renovated	1945
Architect	Luigi Canonica
Tenants
Inter Milan (1930–1947) Milan (1941–1945)

Arena Civica (Italian pronunciation: [aˈrɛːna ˈtʃiːvika, aˈreːna -]), officially Arena Gianni Brera, is a multi-purpose stadium in Milan, Italy, which was opened on 18 August 1807. One of the city's main examples of neoclassical architecture, today it mainly hosts football and rugby union games, concerts and cultural events. The stadium can hold 18,000–30,000 spectators.

Since 17 January 2010 the Arena is the home ground of Amatori Rugby Milano, a rugby union club founded in 1927 that won 18 Italian Championships. The stadium is also the host venue for an annual athletics meeting – the Notturna di Milano, as well as the home pitch for Milan's third football team, Brera Calcio.

History

The Arena Civica opened on 18 August 1807, and later it was used for football activities, mainly by Inter: initially only for the biggest matches and afterwards on a stable basis, from 1930 until 10 December 1958, when the Nerazzurri faced Lyon for the Fairs Cup. It was used on 15 May 1910 in the Italy national football team's first official match, a 6–2 victory over France.

During its history it has been used for many kinds of events, including the reconstruction of naval battles; William Frederick Cody ("Buffalo Bill") twice brought his "Wild West Show" here. Other artists who performed at the Arena include Chicago, Joe Cocker, Stewart Copeland, The Cure, Little Feat, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Lou Reed, The Manhattan Transfer, Robert Plant, Public Image Limited, Radiohead, Patti Smith, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Sting and Andy Summers. The Arena is also the site of the Milan Jazzin' Festival. In 2003, it was renamed "Arena Gianni Brera" in honor of the sportswriter and journalist Gianni Brera.

The facade of the stadium

Facilities

• one 6-lane/400 m track
• one football and rugby pitch (100 x 86 m)

See also

• San Siro (or Stadio Giuseppe Meazza)
• Gianni Brera
• Parco Sempione
• Brera Calcio

The entrance of the Arena

External links

• Description On Comune di Milano website
• ARENA CIVICA.doc (in Italian), a document in Microsoft Word format from the Comune di Milano website offering a history of the arena.
• Arena Civica History of the Arena Civica (Italian)
• History of the Arena Civica (French)
• Media related to Arena Civica Gianni Brera at Wikimedia Commons