- The address: 98000, Monaco, Avenue des Catelans 7, Louis II
- Capacity: 18480 people
- Telephone: +377 92 05 40 11
- Built: 1985
- Open: 1985
- Home team: Monaco national football team
Located in Fontvieille, the Stade Louis II was opened in 1985. This is the largest sports facility in the Principality, named after Prince Louis II, who ruled during the construction of the stadium.
Stadium structureThe multisport arena is equipped to the highest standards. There is an underground Olympic-type swimming pool, a basketball hall, a hall for training and holding squash and fencing competitions. Around the field of the stadium there is a complex for athletes with running tracks and all the necessary accessories.
The parking lot is also well thought out: it consists of four levels and has about 17,000 parking spaces, located directly under the stands.
Stade Louis 2 is famous for the fact that it is here that matches of the European Super Cup and the Champions League are often held. This is one of the best sports grounds in the world, where competitions of the highest level are held. The main office of the Monaco football club is located on the territory of the stadium.
How to get there? From Monaco train station to the stadium can be reached by bus number 5 or by. If you prefer walking, the journey will take you no more than 20 minutes. Not far from the Stade Louis II there are many and
The Grimaldi dynasty has been ruling the country for more than 700 years, and each of its representatives tried to contribute both to the development of their own state and to the struggle to protect the environment, which has long been an important point in Monaco's policy. Today our story is dedicated to Louis II, who could well be the prototype of a famous song. So….
Louis II (Louis Honorius Carl Anthony Grimaldi, 11th Prince of Monaco), grandfather Rainier III and great-grandfather of the ruling Prince of Monaco Albert II, like any monarch of his dynasty, played an important role in the formation and development of his country.
The parents of the future ruler of Monaco, Princess Maria Victoria Douglas-Hamilton and Prince Albert I, divorced when the prince was only 10 years old. Louis was raised by his mother and lived in Germany, where he was born. And when the time came to prepare properly for the government of the country, he could not stay near Albert I for a long time, who left the young heir in the shadow of his bright personality. Then, not finding a common language with his father, Louis goes to study at the Saint-Cyr military academy in France.
Having successfully graduated from the academy, Louis himself expressed a desire to go to serve in a foreign legion. Subsequently, the heir to the throne was brought to Algeria, where he met the laundress Marie Juliette Louvet, a former cabaret singer who already had two children from her first marriage. Her ex-husband was a photographer at the famous Moulin Rouge in Paris. The young prince falls in love with a girl, and as a result of this relationship in Algeria in 1898, a girl is born to Marie, who is named Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet.
However, it has already become a long-standing sad tradition (and some say that there is even a curse of the Grimaldi family) failure in marriage and on the love front among representatives of the princely family. So, having learned about the new passion of his son, Albert I does not give permission for this marriage because of the big difference in social status. In his opinion, it is unacceptable for a young prince to marry a laundress. There are few documents and records left about what was happening at that time on the sidelines of the Prince's Palace, but there is an opinion that Louis was furious at such a ban on his father and pledged never to marry at all. Others close to Louis at that time claim that he nevertheless secretly married Marie in 1897, although no documentary records of this were found.
One way or another, the parents of the newborn Charlotte did not stay together for long after the birth of their daughter. A girl up to 13 years old was brought up by her mother in Algeria. Later, when the Monegasque court became anxious that Louis would seriously keep his formidable promise to his father and not marry, Louis's illegitimate daughter Charlotte was talked about on the sidelines. The fact is that if it happens that the princely family of Grimaldi does not have an heir to the throne of Monaco, then according to the agreement concluded between the principality and France, Monaco becomes the property of the French Republic. This agreement was reached insofar as France did not officially recognize the independence of Monaco, but recognized the independence of the Grimaldi family. Thus, as long as the Grimaldis rule Monaco, the Principality will remain a sovereign state.
In the case of Louis, if he did not have a direct heir, of course, there was always the option of heirs through the female line of the dukes von Urakhi. Of course, this did not suit the ruling prince of Monaco, Albert I. In this regard, mainly at the insistence of the sovereign, Louis officially recognized his illegitimate daughter Charlotte when she was 21 years old and named her heir to the throne. And his father, in the meantime, made appropriate changes to the legislation, according to which now the illegitimate children of the prince, and female children, and even adopted ones, could now claim the throne, which was not the case before. Thus, Louis, willingly or unwittingly, caused a change in the law of succession to the throne of Monaco.
In connection with these changes, Charlotte, having become the princess of the principality, was married to Count Pierre de Polignac. This marriage was arranged by Louis himself in order to smooth out the humble origin of his daughter on the maternal side. The union was not happy, and a few years later the couple broke up. However, the goal was achieved, Charlotte had a son, Rainier, the ruler of the principality after his grandfather Louis II, who never again had children, although he married again at the end of his life, this time to the French actress Gislaine Dommange.
During his father's reign in Monaco, Louis continues to serve in the French army. Although there was a period when he returned to his homeland, in 1908, however, with the outbreak of the First World War, the prince returned to serve in the French army, where over time he received not only the rank of brigadier general, but also became the Supreme Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honor. In 1922, when his father, Albert I, dies, it is time for Louis II to take the throne of his ancestors.
Louis was on the throne in difficult times not only for the principality, but for the whole world - during the Second World War. His military policy, and politics in general, was not distinguished by decisiveness, for which he was strongly criticized not only by sources outside the principality - even his grandson Renier, who was an ardent anti-fascist, often expressed his sharp criticism of his grandfather's rule. Twice during the war, the principality was occupied by fascist troops - the neighborhood with fascist Italy, which was unfavorable for those times, affected. The fact is that Louis, a convinced pacifist, tried to remain neutral and not take sides.
If in the political field Louis did not leave a noticeable mark, then he showed himself in the development of the internal cultural life of his state. In 1924 Louis initiates the creation of the AS Monaco football club, and in 1939, after construction of a new stadium, the building is named after him. Not only football competitions are held here, but also international sports competitions among students called the World University Games. To this day, this stadium remains the largest stadium in Monaco and bears the name of its founder, although it was rebuilt in 1984. Moreover, during the reign Louis II hosted the first motor racing at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1929, when the winner was the Englishman Charles Grover, who came to the finish line in a Bugatti car.
However, the Prince of Monaco was not only a fan of sports and cultural events, but in general a supporter of the cultural development of the state. It was on his initiative that in 1931 the choreographer René Blum founded a ballet troupe at the Monte Carlo Opera, which gave a strong impetus to the development of opera and ballet in the principality.
Thus, Prince Louis II may not have become the brightest and most prominent ruler of Monaco, but it was his decisions in various difficult situations that led the principality to further development and prosperity, which it has reached today.
Photo: museedesetoiles.fr/noblesseetroyautes.com/ufacbagnolet.over-blog.com/info-stades.fr/fr.numista.com
This stadium does not boast a large capacity, it does not have four or five stars in the UEFA classification, it has never played matches of the World or European Championships. And, nevertheless, the Louis II Stadium can be safely attributed to the number of famous and even legendary stadiums. All thanks to the UEFA Super Cup, which has been held in Monaco since 1998.
Well, the first time the UEFA Super Cup was played at this stadium in 1986 between Dynamo Kyiv and Steaua Bucharest, when it was decided to play not two games (home and away), but one on a neutral field.
A small digression about the location of the stadium, namely the Principality of Monaco. Although it is part of France, in its essence it is a full-fledged tiny state that has its own Constitution; executive, legislative and judicial branches of government; capital - Monte Carlo; own anthem and symbols; membership in the UN; diplomatic consulates in various countries of the world and other attributes of statehood. Monaco even has its own football team, which is not really recognized by FIFA and UEFA.
The principality of Monaco is ruled by Prince Albert II. By the way, a big fan of sports, even more so - a rather successful professional athlete in the past (he participated in the Winter Olympic Games four times). His father (and therefore predecessor) Prince Rainier III, apparently, also loved sports and it was on his personal order that the stadium in question was built.
Louis II Stadium (Stade Louis II, Stade Louis Dusem) was built on January 25, 1985 on the site of the old stadium built in 1939. Prince Rainier III named the stadium in honor of his grandfather Louis II, whose heir he was (because the direct heir Princess Charlotte renounced the throne in favor of her son, tobish - Rainier III).
The stadium is located not in Monte Carlo, as one might think, but in the Fontvieille area (one of the ten districts of Monaco). Distance to the nearest airport (which is located in Nice) 25 km.
By the way, in terms of territory, the entire Principality of Monaco is smaller than, for example, the city of Istanbul.
The capacity of Stade Louis II is 18,523 seats, which is not so small, considering the 33,000 population of the Principality.
It is the home stadium of the seven-time French champion club Monaco.
Architecturally, the stadium, along with its "house-shaped" light brown roof and decorative arches, fits quite harmoniously into the surrounding area.
The stands of the stadium are covered with a wide full-weight roof, in which there are various kinds of technical rooms, including built-in platforms for television cameras.
The massive roof rests on eight wide columns (four on each side), which are clearly visible during broadcasts.
A color video board is fixed on one of the columns, another one is located above the podium outside the goal.
Around the field is an athletics complex with running tracks.
Lighting on Louis II meets the highest UEFA standards and is updated in a timely manner to tighten these standards. Now the stadium (directly in the roof) has 340 lighting projectors installed, which are capable of providing a light level of 1,800 lux.
There are many sports facilities in the stadium. For example, an Olympic-type swimming pool, a basketball / handball hall with small stands, training halls for squash, fencing, etc. In addition, the stadium building houses an office center and evenInternational University of Monaco . The facilities that are located around the stadium - for the most part ensure the functioning of the arena as a single complex. In particular, the complex includes the Monaco training center, which has a restaurant, single rooms for young players, etc.
I also note that Louis II is a unique stadium in its design, because. its field is located 8.35 m above the road level. Yes, yes, not the sea, but the road. Under the field and under the stands there is a four-level parking for 1,700 cars. This creates certain difficulties with the growth of the lawn, but they are solvable.
Was in the history of the stadium and an unpleasant incident. On May 31, 2004 (five days after Monaco lost the Champions League final), an explosion occurred at the Stade Louis II. There were no casualties, but the stadium building was damaged. Reconstruction and repair was immediately carried out for the government money of the principality.
Such an interesting stadium on the Mediterranean coast.
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Excerpt characterizing Louis II (stadium)
The old princess rose respectfully and sat down. The young man who entered ignored her. The princess nodded her daughter's head and swam to the door.“No, she is right,” thought the old princess, all of whose convictions were destroyed before the appearance of his highness. - She is right; but how is it that in our irretrievable youth we did not know this? And it was so simple, ”the old princess thought, getting into the carriage.
In early August, Helen's case was completely decided, and she wrote a letter to her husband (who she thought was very fond of her) in which she informed him of her intention to marry NN and that she had entered into the one true religion and that she asks him to complete all the formalities necessary for the divorce, which the bearer of this letter will convey to him.
“Sur ce je prie Dieu, mon ami, de vous avoir sous sa sainte et puissante garde. Votre amie Helene.
[“Then I pray to God that you, my friend, be under his holy strong cover. Your friend Elena"]
This letter was brought to Pierre's house while he was on the Borodino field.
The second time, already at the end of the battle of Borodino, having escaped from the Raevsky battery, Pierre with crowds of soldiers headed along the ravine to Knyazkov, reached the dressing station and, seeing blood and hearing screams and groans, hastily moved on, getting mixed up in the crowds of soldiers.
Stade Louis II is located in Monaco, in the district of Fontvieille. The stadium, built in the 1980s on the site of an old stadium built in 1939, was named after Prince Louis II of Monaco. The stadium is designed for 18524 seats. It is the home stadium for AS Monaco football club. The uniqueness of the stadium lies in the fact that the football field is located at a height of 8.35 meters above street level.
The stadium is part of a sports complex, which also includes swimming pools, a press conference room, parking and other sports facilities. The stadium consists of three parts: a football field, a multifunctional sports hall and the Crown Prince Albert Aquatics Centre. In 2008, two huge screens were installed at the stadium.
The sports hall, located under the stands of the stadium, hosts handball, basketball and volleyball competitions, but it is also suitable for competitions in other sports. The outdoor football ground hosts athletics competitions and, of course, football matches, including matches of the European Super Cup and the Champions League.
