Back in Rome more than 2000 years ago there was an idea to build the greatest stadium the world has ever seen; they called it the Coliseum.   The Estadio Municipal de Braga or the AXA Stadium as it is now known is not exactly the Coliseum, but in its own way it is SC Braga's very own landmark of distinctiveness.

Inaugurated in December 2003 at  cost of around 60 million Euros, it cost more than any other stadium created for Euro 2004.   It may not be as 'new' as it once was for the Euro 2004 event but the football Stadium in Braga, Northern Portugal has long been regarded as a unique masterpiece of architecture.

Constructed for the UEFA European Football Championship where it hosted two games, it sits on a mountainside near a quarry pit of the mountain Monte Castro. One tribune of the ground sits against the hill, while the other tribune stands free alongside the mountain's declivity.  On the other side of the stadia, a rock face has been excavated and there are no tribunes instead only the beautiful scenery of a rock valley. With this the stadium sits as part of the mountain thereby different to any other in European football.

In creating the form of the ground granite rock was removed through a series of explosions. This allowed space to be created that support the tribunes which consist of two levels of tiers. The entrances to the tribunes reflect heterogeneity: while one tribune is accessible by fans at the bottom, the other one (that is placed against the hill) is accessible at the top only. The height difference between the two tribunes equals 40 meters or 131 feet.    Once inside the stadium, moving from one stand to the other is done through a 5,000 sq.m plaza under the pitch.

Compared to more expectable stadium designs the ground offers an unusual and innovative frame. Where as many grounds will sit or grow out of wasteland, disused fields or a former ground framework, the Braga ground has been built in harmony into its natural environment characterized by granite walls on one side and an open space on the other. This scape offers both a natural scenery in proximity to the playing field and the one created and generated by supporters.

Each stand is covered with a canopy-style roof, and both are connected to each other across the pitch by dozens of steel strings, a design inspired by ancient South American Inca bridges. The ground is said to hover like a silver dragonfly over the green Cavado valley.   The stadium is not conventional because it does not have stands behind both the goals. This essentially was an architectural choice to greatly deviate the ground from the traditional European method; an aim embarked upon at the outset by Architect Eduardo Souto Moura.

The architect turned the eyesore of an old quarry into a unique sporting playground. The 3o, 000 seats are arranged in two stands either side of the playing surface linked by two roofs suspended from the sides. The north face of the stadium is open, overlooking the Roman town and surrounding countryside. The architect Souto Moura himself stated the following about the ground upon inauguration:

“Football today is entertainment, like cinema, like theatre and television. People who come to the show don't want to see it from behind.”

Anyone who knows Braga as a city and its place in Portugal would have expected nothing less in terms of stadia design. Essentially it would have been hard for the country's religious capital, where the bells of 36 churches and Portugal's oldest cathedral ring out, to construct a piece of urban utilitarianism like many other cities have chosen to do. Just as the red and green shirts of the Portuguese team traditionally weave spellbinding Rococo patterns on the turf, so the new stadium built for Euro 2o04 is nothing less than eye-catching.

Credits: Images with thanks to pedro blue www.fotosdacurva.com