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San Mamés
La Catedral
Full name	Estadio San Mamés
Location	Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
Built	20 January, 1913
Opened	21 August, 1913
Renovated	1952, 1982 (FIFA World Cup 1982)
Owner	Athletic Bilbao
Operator	Athletic Bilbao
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	50.000 ptas
Architect	Manuel Maria Smith
Capacity	39,750[1]
Field dimensions	104 x 68 m
Tenants
	Athletic Bilbao

Estadio San Mamés, AKA La Catedral (The Cathedral), is a football stadium in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The stadium is the home of Athletic Bilbao, known as "Los leones de San Mamés-Bilboko leoiak" (The lions of San Mamés). They are known as Los leones because their stadium was built near a church called San Mamés (Saint Mammes). Mammes was an early Christian thrown to the lions by the Romans. The lions refused to eat Mammes and he was later made a saint.^[1]

[edit] History

Opened in 1913, it is Spain's oldest built stadium (the oldest playfield being El Molinon), condition that has granted it its nickname, and can seat almost forty thousand people.

The current stadium was almost completely rebuilt to host matches in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. In March 2006 new project has been approved to rebuild the stadium increasing seats up to 58,000. The New San Mamés Stadium will be built in the adjacent terrain that was occupied until 2003 by the Bilbao International Trade Fair. Three quarters of the stadium will be built and then the matches will take place in the new stadium and the old one will be demolished. In the remaining terrain the last side of the new stadium will be completed and the University of the Basque Country will build a new campus.

San Mamés años40.jpg

San Mamés in 1940.