Arena Fonte Nova, Football stadium in Nazaré, Salvador, Brazil.
Arena Fonte Nova is a football stadium in Salvador, Bahia, built on the site of the old Estádio Octávio Mangabeira and opened in 2013. Its horseshoe bowl keeps the opening toward the Dique do Tororó, with three tiers of covered seats holding 48,661. The white roof is a lightweight metal ray-and-ring structure covered with a PTFE membrane and held by external pillars.
The original stadium built in 1951 was demolished and replaced with this modern facility completed in 2013. During the 2014 World Cup six matches took place here and the stadium gained international recognition as a host venue for teams from around the world.
The nickname "Fonte Nova" comes from the old Estádio Octávio Mangabeira, whose official name the arena keeps as Complexo Esportivo Cultural Octávio Mangabeira. The horseshoe layout with an opening toward the Dique do Tororó repeats the design of the earlier stadium by Diógenes Rebouças. The arena also hosts concerts and business events, following the multipurpose model of the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam.
The stadium is accessible via several public bus routes and main roads and has numerous entrance gates for different sectors. Visitors should arrive early on match days to avoid queues and allow time for security checks at the entry points.
The roof's lightweight metal structure follows a ray-and-ring system covered with a PTFE membrane and held up by external pillars, inspired by Hanover's AWD-Arena. The horseshoe layout keeps an opening toward the Dique do Tororó, echoing architect Diógenes Rebouças's original design. Concrete from the demolished old stadium was reused in the new build and in projects around Salvador.
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