Top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos, Chile's largest stadium

Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos is situated in the Ñuñoa district Santiago, being Chile's national stadium.

With its official capacity of 48,665, the stadium is the largest stadium in Chile while it is just a part of a 62-hectare sporting complex that contains tennis courts, an aquatics centre, a modern gymnasium, a velodrome, a BMX circuit, and an assistant ground/warmup athletics track.

The stadium started to be constructed in February 1937 and was opened on December 3, 1938. Its architectural design was based on the structure of the

in Berlin, Germany.

While Estadio Nacional was one of the stadiums of the FIFA World Cup in 1962, it hosted the final of the tournament where

earned a  3–1 triumph over Czechoslovakia.

In 1948, the stadium was the host of the South American Championship of Champions' matches. It was this tournament that laid the foundation of the UEFA Champions League as well as the Copa Libertadores.

One of the most heinous top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos is that it was insanely used to be mass imprisonment, torture, and extrajudicial execution facility at the time of Pinochet dictatorship after the 1973 military coup.

In 2009, the stadium and its surrounding facilities were completely modernised and according to president Michelle Bachelet it would become the most modern stadium in South America.

While it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of athletics, and football venue for the 2014 South American Games, it is set to be the host of the 2023 Pan American Games as well.

Top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos, Chile's largest stadium

Come along with is to cast further light on the top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos.

Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos facts in a glimpse

Bio

• Full name

  : Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos

• Previous names

  : National Stadium (1938-2008)

• Nickname

  : The Colossus of Ñuñoa, The National Coliseum

General information

• Country

  : Chile

• Location

  :  Ñuñoa

• Coordinates

  : 33°27′52″S 70°36′38″W / -33.464522, -70.610586

Management and supervision

• Owner

  : Chile's National Sports Institute 

• Operator

  : Municipality of Ñuñoa

• Local team

  : Chilean national team

• Habitually

  : University of Chile Colo-Colo Catholic University

• Regular Renter

  : University of Chile

• Current Tenant

  : Selknam (rugby club)

Technical details

• Surface

  : Turf (court), Polytan (athletic track)

• Dimensions

  : 120 × 90 (overall), 105 × 68m

• Capacity

  : 48,665 viewers

• Marker

  : 100m²  LED screen

• Building cost

  : $ 18,000,000 (1938), $ 2,000,000,000 (2010)

Construction information

• Start

  : February 25, 1937 

• Finished

  : November 1, 1938

• Opening

  : December 3, 1938

• Remodelling

  : September 12, 2010 

• Architect

  : Ricardo Muller, Aníbal Fuente-Alba and Alberto Cormatches 

• Project manager

  : Karl Brunner (1937)

• Structural engineer

  : Salinas and Fabres (Salfa SA) (1937-38)

Momentous events

• Most recent football events

  : 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Copa Libertadores de América Finals, 2006 and 2011 Copa Sudamericana Finals, Final first leg of the Recopa Sudamericana 2012, Final of 2017, 2018 and 2020 Chilean Super Cup, Pan American Games 2023, Parapan American Games 2023

• Athletics events

  : 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics, Orlando Guaita International Athletic Tournament

Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos history

It is interesting to indicate among our

top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos

that a farmer called Jose Domingo Cañas constructed the stadium on former farmland, in 1918.

Then on 3 December 1938, the first game of the stadium took place, which was a friendly match between the Chilean club Colo-Colo and Brazilian club São Cristóvão that resulted in Colo-Colo 6–3 triumph.

Likewise, it has been also the host of all the matches of the 1941, 1945 and 1955

Football Championships, as well as a number of matches of the 1991 and 2015 Copa América.

In addition, it was the host of the final stages of the 1959 World

Championship, being played outdoors owing to the fact that the determined venue, the Metropolitan Indoor Stadium, was not prepared yet.

In the early 1960s, at the time of Jorge Alessandri's government, the stadium underwent an expansion process so as to host the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

As a result of this expansion, the velodrome surrounding the stadium was replaced by galleries, increasing its initial capacity to the number of 95,000.

So the tournament's group stage games between

, West Germany, Switzerland and Chile were held at the stadium while an insanely ill-tempered and violent clash between Italy and Chile also occurred at the venue which is widely remembered as the Battle of Santiago.

Likewise, a quarter-final, a semi-final, the third-place play-off, and the final, in which Brazil was grabbed the world championship for the second time took place at the stadium. It is notable to suggest that in the third-place play-off, Chile managed to beat Yugoslavia 1–0, grabbing a victory that is revered to be Chile's greatest success in international football.

Then the stadium has been employed since 1995 as the final leg of the Telethon with Don Francisco, which is a 28-hour telecast.

While more than 100,000 people have attended this annual event with the Jumbotron showing the required amount to reach its goal and its current donation, 2014 and 2020 versions did not take place because of that bad weather conditions and the protection against the Pandemic respectively.

Besides, on July 5, 2008, it was officially renamed Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, after a recently deceased sports journalist.

At the moment, the stadium is the home field of both the national team and the first-division club Universidad de Chile, while some non-sporting events, as the likes of political celebrations, charity events and concerts would be held at the venue as well.

Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos usage as a detention centre

Following the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, and President Salvador Allende's departure, the stadium began to be employed as a detention facility.

As per an article in the Harvard Review of Latin America, "there were over 80 detention centres in Santiago alone" while some details about the Estadio Nacional and Some other venues were also revealed.

More than 40,000 people were detained at the stadium during the junta regime and just twelve thousand detainees were interned between September 11 and November 7.

The men were held at the field, while women were imprisoned in the

pool changing rooms and related buildings.

They used the locker rooms and corridors as prison facilities whereas interrogations were executed in the velodrome.

The Red Cross revealed that 7,000 prisoners were incarcerated in the stadium at some point in time, while 300 numbers of them were foreigners.

As per the testimonies of survivors that were gathered by the humanitarian group, the prisoners were tortured and threatened to death via shooting.

While some prisoners were actually shot or were taken to unknown places for execution, the most infamous one happening in the Estadio Nacional was the execution of American Charles Horman.

About this story, some books are written and at least two movies were made. Just for instance the successful book The Execution of Charles Horman, reveals the work and life of this journalist.

Moreover, the 2002 documentary film Estadio Nacional, directed and produced by Carmen Luz Parot put on the show how the stadium was used during the coup d'état.

Even the 2007 Swedish film, The Black Pimpernel, is on the basis of the story of the Swedish ambassador in Chile Harald Edelstam, demonstrating his heroic actions to protect the lives of over 1,200 people during and after the military coup.

Likewise, the 1982 film Missing by Greek was created by filmmaker Costa-Gavras, illustrates the September 11, 1973 coup d'état and execution of American journalists Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi at the Estadio Nacional too.

It is notable to suggest among our

top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos

that n 2011, Chile set aside a part of old wooden bleachers of the stadium called "Escotilla 8", as a tribute to the prisoners who were detained there, while it is encircled by a barbed-wire fence.

Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos renovation

On June 15, 2009, President Michelle Bachelet revealed his intention to modernise a number of stadium's Infrastructures and facilities.

Out of the total 24 billion pesos (US$42.3 million) assessed in the plan, 20 billion pesos (US$35.3 million) were set to make the stadium meet modern standards.

Among the numerous changes, one can suggest to a roof covering all the seats so as to provide illumination as well; establishing seats around the whole of the stadium, decreasing the stadiums capacity to 47,000; establishing a new state-of-the-art scoreboard; installing a 2.5 m deep 2 m wide pit separating the track and the spectators instead of the fence; just to name a few.

In as much as the stadium is also considered to be a national monument, the façade would still remain the same, while the roof structure would be placed on top, without any exterior modification.

The stadium was set to be reinaugurated in March 2010 with a double friendly match between Chile and North Korea and Panama, yet the construction works were not accomplished on time.

In fact, the government of President Sebastián Piñera impeded the construction of the roof because of the financial constraints aroused by the February 27, 2010 earthquake.

Even if the stadium underwent minor damage from the earthquake, it partially opened to be the host of the match between C.F. Universidad de Chile and C.D. Guadalajara for Copa Libertadores 2010. Eventually, It was officially reopened on September 12, 2010, at the time of Chile's bicentennial festivities.

Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos capacity

As part of the intriguing

top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos

, it may sound you well to know that since the stadium was constructed with an original capacity of 48,000 spectators in 1937, many deemed it to be a "white elephant" that would not be filled any time.

Yet they somehow alluded to the charges of corruption against the administration of Arturo Alessandri, which supervised the stadium's cost of construction.

For the 1962 FIFA

, seating capacity was expanded to 74,000 with overflow areas letting a total of over 80,000 spectators watch the games, by removing the cycling track and moving it to another place.

Yet as time goes by, seating capacity was decreased for security measures and keeping escape routes clear to avoid accidents.

For the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletic, since individual seats were installed, the capacity decreased to 66,000 spectators.

With this work, they ascertained that the number of spectators attending, would not transcend the stadium capacity, just like what had happened with the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1987 that it is believed that over 90,000 people attended, yet not any precise number of attendance was recorded because the attendance was free, and without any control.

It could not be excluded from our top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos that its highest attendance until know has been set to be 85,268, for a Primera Division match that occurred on December 29, 1962; when Universidad de Chile beat Universidad Catolica 4–1.

Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos momentous events

Aside from the football events that occurred at the stadium which was indicated briefly in the section of history in our top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos, some other sports, entertainment and social events were held at the venue as well.

Boxing

It was in the 1970s that the stadium became the host of

fights by the Chilean boxer Martín Vargas as the first one took place on December 20, 1975, when he coped with the boxer Gonzalo Cruz for the national flyweight title in which Vargas could grab victory.

In the second bout at the stadium, Martín Vargas confronted the Mexican Miguel Canto for the flyweight world title on November 30, 1977, and was eventually smashed by the Mexican boxer.

Moreover, the first fight of Carlos Cruzat at the Anita Lizana Central Court of the stadium was on October 19, 2000, against the

Walter Matteoni.

In his second fight at the stadium, he faced the American of Puerto Rican origin José Luis Rivera on November 3, 2000, and in the third one, he encountered the Belarusian Muslim Biyarslanov on October 7, 2001, while Cruzat managed to triumph in all of these three bouts.

Social and political events

Since the parliamentary elections of 1961, the stadium has been used as a voting centre for Chile's municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections. With 185 tables and around 60,000 voters, the stadium is considered to be the largest voting centre in Chile.

Just once it has not been the host of polling stations and that was in the elections for conventional constituents, regional governors, mayors and councillors on April 10 and 11, 2021 in the cope of remodelling works for the preparation of 2023 Pan American Games.

Likewise, even social and political events of paramount importance have been taken place there, just for instance the speech of former President of the Republic Patricio Aylwin on March 12, 1990, for commemorating the arrival of democracy in the country.

Religious events

In addition the stadium has hosted historical "religious-social" events, when for example Pope John Paul II, met the youth in an event at the stadium on April 2, 1987.

On this occasion, the Supreme Pontiff called the stadium a "place of competitions, but also of pain and suffering," implying the human rights violations mentioned earlier among the top facts about Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos.

Concerts

With such a large capacity it is no wonder to see it being the site of a disproportionate number of

and national concerts over the course of many years.

To be specific, in 1977, Spanish singer Julio Iglesias made a performance at the stadium and after many years, in 1989, Rod Stewart performed what is deemed to be the first proper rock concert by an international artist in the venue, as he attracted over 80,000 fans.

After that its show became viral in Chile, a raft of tours from international artists started to take benefit of several facilities of the Stadium Park.

Among many concerts performed at the stadium, we suffice to mention just the most recent as well as the upcoming ones. That is to say on 15 October 2019, Iron Maiden performed Legacy of the Beast World Tour at the stadium.

This is while Soda Stereo would perform Gracias Totales on 10 April 2022, Metallica would perform World Wired Tour on 27 April 2022, Justin Bieber performs Justice World Tour on 7 September 2022, Coldplay performs Music of the Spheres World Tour on 23 and 24 September 2022, and finally Bad Bunny performs World's Hottest Tour on 28 and 29 October 2022.

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