Stadion Cracovii – stadium description

First stadium for Cracovia was opened in this location back in 1912, making it the oldest place to still be used for football across Poland. Current stadium has nothing in common with the old one, though, even if it bares the name introduced in 1936, celebrating general Józef Piłsudski.

Existing stadium's history begins in 2005, when the municipality of Krakow took over land from local Norbertine order, gaining the right to invest public funds and demolish the outdated structure. Two years later international design competition was won by Polish-Spanish team of Estudio Lamela, renowned architectural practice known for remodelling Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, among other.

Along with competition guidelines the building couldn't interfere with local architecture and the view of Wawel Castle, imposing a height limit on stands. In Lamela's idea the stadium was to rise towards the south, where the only two-tiered stand is based, while the north side is the shortest. It's also the place envisaged for commercial outlets there proved quite popular once the stadium opened.

The simple and modest form proposed by Lamela utilises the stripe theme widely, symbolically addressing local club Cracovia's nickname (Pasy or The Stripes). In it's south-eastern corner a new indoor arena was to be built and integrated with the stadium, but insufficient funds made its creation impossible. Thankfully the stadium itself was safe and was built sooner than expected, in just 14 months.

The stands holding roughly 15,000 people don't allow Cracovia to think of crowds of the heyday that reached 30,000 and more, but are more suiting the current demand. The west stand has a demountable section with room for a concert stage, but it proved useful to create something else – a place for children to play in during game time.