Estádio Municipal de Braga, Municipal football stadium in Braga, Portugal.
The Estádio Municipal de Braga is a football stadium in the Portuguese city of Braga, built within the walls of a former quarry. The structure consists of two parallel concrete stands holding around 30,000 spectators, with the open sides framed by the natural rock faces of the excavation.
The project was launched in 2000 by architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, and construction ran from 2002 to 2003. The stadium opened on 30 December 2003 with a match between Sporting Braga and Celta Vigo. It hosted two group games at UEFA Euro 2004, and in 2005 Souto de Moura received the Secil Prize for the design.
The stadium is nicknamed A Pedreira (The Quarry) because it was cut into the Monte do Castro hillside. The University of Minho holds its Enterro da Gata year-end festival on the stadium's alameda, and in 2004 the plaza hosted the Minho Campus Party LAN party and a concert by The Corrs.
The stadium sits on the outskirts of Braga and is accessible by car or public transport. Visitors will find seating for wheelchair users along with dedicated zones for press and guests beneath the steel cable roof.
Beneath the pitch extends a plaza of roughly 5,000 square meters, linking both stands through underground passages. This space often goes unnoticed by visitors but forms a key part of the design concept.
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