Surface Parquet Opened 2007 | Broke ground 2003 | |
Location Heraklion, Crete, Greece Owner Greek Ministry of Culture, General Secretariat of Sports Capacity Basketball: 5,222
(permanent tier seating)
5,398
(temporary tier seating) Construction cost €28 million euros (2003)
€34.5 million (in 2016 euros) Similar Dimitris Tofalos Arena, Hellinikon Olympic Arena, Galatsi Olympic Hall, Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, Knossos | ||
Heraklion Indoor Sports Arena, or simply, Heraklion Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in the city of Heraklion, on the island of Crete, in Greece. It is located in a district called Dyo Aorakia (English: Two Aorakia). The arena can be used to host gymnastics, handball, volleyball, basketball, boxing, wrestling, fencing, badminton, table tennis, Judo, MMA, and weightlifting, with its primary use being to host basketball games.
The seating capacity of the arena for basketball games is 5,222 with permanent tier seating, and up to 5,398, including seats for the media, with temporary tier seating. The arena also includes a smaller second sports hall, which is used primarily for training purposes, but that can also host sporting events, a VIP area, a media and press conference room, a weight training room, and a medical room.
History
The Hellenic Basketball Federation (E.O.K.) has used the arena for Greek national basketball team training, and for Greek Cup matches. The arena also hosted the 2010 HEBA Greek All Star Game. On 7 November 2013, Panathinaikos hosted a EuroLeague game against Lokomotiv Kuban at the arena, drawing an attendance of 5,192 people.
On 15 October 2015, Olympiacos hosted a EuroLeague game against Cedevita Zagreb at the arena, drawing an attendance of 5,006 people.
The arena also hosted the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, and the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. During the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, both the Greece versus Spain and Greece versus USA games, drew crowds of 5,200 people.
The arena has also been used as the home arena of the Greek professional basketball club Irakleio.