Montjuïc Olympic Ring
The venues of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games
The so-called Olympic Ring encompasses the set of sporting facilities built or renovated for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. In recent years, some of these spaces have been readapted to host sporting and musical events, while others continue to be places where the people of Barcelona can enjoy sport.
Montjuïc Cable Car, on the Hola Barcelona app
Your app for discovering the city from the heights with the Montjuïc Cable Car: journey, stops and most iconic places. A comfortable way to carry your tickets too!
What to visit at the Olympic Ring
In the middle of Montjuïc Park, covering a surface area of approximately 400 hectares, is the so-called Olympic Ring. Some of its most important facilities are:
- Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium: Built in 1929, it was fully remodelled for the Barcelona ’92 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, with the exception of the facade. It was the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies. It has the capacity for 60,000 spectators.
- Palau Sant Jordi: Built specially for the Barcelona Olympic Games by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, this pavilion played host to the handball, gymnastics and volleyball events and 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.
- Torre de Calatrava: Designed by the architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, this communications tower has become the indisputable symbol of Barcelona’s urban silhouette.
- INEFC Barcelona: Built by the architect Ricardo Bofill, this classical building is home to the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia. In 1992, in the Olympic Games, it played host to 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, it uses advanced interactive technology to recount the history of sport in the city.
For the most curious of you
- Did you know? When Barcelona was chosen as the host city of the Olympic Games in 1986 the city started a full transformation process. A countdown started for the creation of the sports facilities on Montjuïc, an Olympic Port that did not yet exist, an Olympic Village that would modernise an entire district, the strengthening of the transport network with two new terminals at Barcelona-El Prat airport and the creation of key streets and hubs like Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, Ronda del Litoral and Ronda de Dalt.
- 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 the plant life.
- A must: To remember the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.