Alexandreio Melathron
| 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 |
| 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's main hall, called Nikos Galis Hall, has a seating capacity of 5,138 for basketball games. The arena also contains a practice court, club offices, shops, and a museum dedicated to the Aris basketball club. The arena hosts the home games of Aris Thessaloniki B.C., a member of the Greek League.
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. Ιn 2020, will be ready the metro station "Panepistimio", near of the hall.
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.
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.
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