Montjuïc Olympic Ring
The main site of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games
A living tribute to Barcelona ’92, the so-called Olympic Ring is the set of sporting facilities built or renovated for the Olympic Games. Some of them still play host to sporting and music events, while others are spaces where the people of Barcelona can play sport themselves.
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Why visit the Olympic Ring?
With a surface area of approximately 400 hectares in the middle of Montjuïc Park, the Olympic Ring is home to some of the most important venues of the 1992 Olympic Games, which are now municipal facilities enjoyed by the city’s inhabitants:
- Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium: The venue of the opening and closing ceremonies and all the athletics events of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The facade is the only element of the original stadium built in 1929 that was preserved in the remodelling work undertaken for the games. It has the capacity for 60,000 spectators.
- Palau Sant Jordi: Built specially for the games by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, this pavilion played host to the handball, gymnastics and volleyball events, in addition to the table tennis and volleyball events in the Paralympic Games. Outside it is the artistic installation "Utsurohi" (Change), by Aiko Miyawaki, dedicated to movement and dynamic change.
- Bernat Picornell Pools: Inaugurated in 1970, they were remodelled to host the swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo competitions of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
- Montjuïc Communications Tower: It was designed by the architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, who paid homage to Gaudí and Jujol by covering the base with their characteristic trencadís broken-tile mosaic. This tower also functions as a sundial, projecting its shadow onto Plaça d’Europa.
- INEFC Barcelona: This classical building was built by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill for the Olympic Games and is now home to the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia. It was the Olympic venue of the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling competitions, and in the Paralympic Games it hosted the wheelchair fencing and judo events.
- Joan Antoni Samaranch Olympic and Sports Museum: Inaugurated in 2007, this museum uses advanced interactive technology to recount the history of sport in the city.
How do you get to the Olympic Ring?
The Anella Olímpica stop on the Red Route of Barcelona Bus Turístic is on Avinguda de l’Estadi, from where you can access the Olympic Ring.
For the most curious of you
- Did you know? Barcelona is one of the host cities most changed by the Olympic Games. In 1986, when it was chosen to host the Olympic Games, the city started a countdown to 1992 during which it built sports facilities on Montjuïc, created the Olympic Port from scratch, constructed an Olympic Village that would modernise an entire district, and strengthened the transport network by building two new terminals at Barcelona-El Prat airport and adding new key streets and hubs like Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, Ronda Litoral and Ronda de Dalt to the city’s road network.
- Local’s tip: The Olympic Ring is surrounded by the Joan Maragall Gardens and the Botanical Garden, where you can stop to rest in the shade and enjoy nature.
- A must: For lovers of history and the Olympic movement.
