Description
Gazprom Arena, also known as Petersburg Arena, is a modern multifunctional football stadium in Saint Petersburg. The arena is located right on Krestovsky Island, where the S. M. Kirov Stadium once stood. Many famous foreign specialists were involved in the design, and the project itself belongs to the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.
The construction of the arena was laid down in 2007, and the grand opening took place on December 29, 2016. The basic estimated cost was set at 6.7 billion rubles, but this amount subsequently increased to 43 billion rubles. According to this indicator, the stadium is still the most expensive in Russia.
The stadium's capacity is 80,000 spectators at theater and concert events and 68,000 at football matches. Gazprom Arena also has 560 seats for disabled people, including 266 seats for people in wheelchairs. The infrastructure includes special vestibules, elevators and ramps for people with limited mobility.
The stadium is equipped with the latest security. A special video surveillance system has been installed to identify people who are prohibited from entering the stadium and troublemakers.
Gazprom Arena hosts top-level sporting events. It hosted the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches, and it is already known that the stadium will host European Championship matches in 2021, and the UEFA Champions League final in 2022.