Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall

Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall

Palais des Sports
Full name	Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall
Former names	Alexandreio Melathron
Location	Thessaloniki, Greece
Coordinates	40°37′36.83″N 22°57′25.99″E / 40.6268972°N 22.9572194°ECoordinates: 40°37′36.83″N 22°57′25.99″E / 40.6268972°N 22.9572194°E
Owner	Greek Ministry of Culture, General Secretariat of Sports
Capacity	Basketball: 5,138[1]
Surface	Parquet
Construction
Opened	29 June 1966
Renovated	2004, 2015
Architect	Petros Gianettos, M. Guyon and T. Jeanblock
Tenants
Aris Thessaloniki B.C.

Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall, or Alexandreio Melathron Nikos Galis Hall (Greek: Αλεξάνδρειο Μέλαθρον Νίκος Γκάλης Σάλα) is an indoor sports arena that is located in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is also often referred to as the Palais des Sports (Greek: Παλαί ντε Σπορ).

The arena is mainly used to host basketball and volleyball games. The arena has a seating capacity of 5,138^[2] for basketball games. The arena hosts the home games of Aris Thessaloniki B.C., a member of the Greek League.

Location

Nikos Galis, whom the arena's main hall is named after.

Greek League game between Aris and Olympiacos, in March 2007.

The Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall indoor arena is located in downtown Thessaloniki, inside the International trade fare grounds. Bus lines #2, #7, #8, #10, #14, #27, #31, and #58, running along Egnatia avenue, stop right in front of the arena.

Construction

The arena was designed by the architects P. Gianettos, M. Guyon and T. Jeanblock between 1960 and 1962. It was built in 1966. The structure shares two of the architects with the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon and has many similarities.

The building was redeveloped and updated in 2004, in preparation for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The updates involved reconstruction of all the building's external and internal areas. Apart from what is directly visible to everybody, other works included new electrical and mechanical updates, air-conditioning, and audiovisual facilities. New seats, CCTV, and new lighting were also installed.

These updates unfortunately resulted in a lower seating capacity (5,138 compared to the previous 6,000) for "Alexandreio" Arena, which reopened its gates in late 2004. The arena was again updated in 2015.^[3]

History

The arena was named after Alexander the Great, the ancient king of Macedonia. It is also commonly referred to as the "Palais des Sports" (Sports Palace, in French). Under its former names, the arena was the first large indoor basketball arena built in Greece, and remained the largest until the year 1985, when the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Athens, was completed and opened to the public.

Being part of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, the arena also serves for many purposes other than sports. It has hosted many international basketball events, and was also the home arena for both "arch-rivals", Aris B.C. and PAOK B.C. for many years; up until the year 2000, when PAOK B.C. moved into their own new stadium, the P.A.O.K. Sports Arena.

On May 8, 2013, at an event honoring the retired former Aris player, Nikos Galis, the Greek deputy culture minister, Giannis Ioannidis, announced that the main hall of the arena was to be renamed to "Nikos Galis Hall".^[4]

Ownership

The arena is owned and operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture's General Secretariat of Sports.

References

1. Capacity 5.138 seats.
2. Capacity 5.138 seats.
3. Το νέο "Nick Galis Hall" σε κιτρινόμαυρο φόντο (Greek).
4. Ekathimerini.com Nick Galis: A night to remember.

External links

• Official site, now obsolete - Archived on 2011/12/19
• Alexandrio Melathron @ Stadia.gr