Location: Viale Manfredo Fanti, Firenze
Built: 1930 (Renovated in 1990)
Capacity: 47, 290
The Stadio Artemio Franchi is the home of Fiorentina, and is located in Florence.
The stadium is known for its modern architecture, having been designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, the same man who designed parts of the Vatican, and is cited as one of the most relevant pieces of modern architecture in Italy from the 20th Century.
The stadium is made entirely of concrete, including the 70m tower that bears the stadiums flag, known as the “Tower of Marathon”
Aside from its inevitable involvement with the 1990 World Cup, the Florence building also welcomed the football preliminaries to the Rome Olympic Games in 1960, as well as a Madonna concert in 1987.
The stadium is rarely used for the Azzurri, in fact only once had the Franchi played host to the National team between 1982 and 2006, a friendly against Mexico being the only occasion.
Since then, the stadium has been used for matches against Germany and Belgium, and a Qualifying match in 2008 versus the Faroe Islands. The Franchi has also been used for Rugby Union, Italy played Australia in Florence in 2010.
The Gentleman Ultra says…
Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and is renowned for art and culture. Its is therefore quite apt that it has a stadium that is one of the best examples of 20th century architecture in the whole of the city.
Designed by architect Pier Luigi Nervi the stadium includes a huge tower called the “Tower of Marathon” which is 230ft tall. The concrete stadium has superb Roman style pillars at the entrance and once inside there is a perfect view from whichever seat you are given. The stadium was renovated for the 1990 World Cup and this was achieved by removing the running track and adding extra seating.
This now makes the stadium a purpose-built football arena, and the large capacity creates an electric atmosphere. One fantastic attribute this stadium has is that from the stands you can look out onto the rolling Tuscan hills – a view which is truly breathtaking. The Ultras on the Curva Fiesole are known as La Vecchia Guardia Firenze and are loud, well organised and fiercely anti-Juventus.
If you are going to watch football in Italy, this is a venue that should be near the top of the list.
It’s a crying shame they want to move out of this stadium. In my opinion the smarter and more cost effective thing to do would be to work in section, year by year for 3 years. 1st completely remove a curve and rebuild closer to the field.