Galatsi Olympic Hall

Location	Galatsi, Athens, Greece
Coordinates	38°01′38″N 23°45′37″E / 38.02722°N 23.76028°E / 38.02722; 23.76028
Public transit	608 OSY Line, Metro Station Omorfokklisia (2035)
Operator	Municipality of Galatsi
Capacity	6,200 (with lower tier seating) (5,141 permanent seating)
Surface	Parquet
Construction
Opened	July 30, 2004
Architect	Alexandros Tombazis

The Galatsi Olympic Hall is a multi-use indoor arena that is located in Galatsi, Athens, Greece. It was the site of table tennis and rhythmic gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[1] The Galatsi Olympic Hall has a seating capacity of 6,200, which includes 5,141 permanent seats in the upper tier, and the removable lower tier seats.^[2]

History

The arena was completed in May 2004, and officially opened on July 30, 2004, shortly before the beginning of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. After the 2004 Olympics, Galatsi Olympic Hall served as the home court of the Greek Basketball League club AEK BC, before the team moved to the larger Olympic Indoor Hall in 2006. The arena was then turned over to the private sector (Acropol Haragionis AE and Sonae Sierra SGPS S.A), and was used as a shopping center.

In autumn of 2015, the hall was used as temporary shelter for migrants.^[3]

In early 2016, the hall was used for the recording of The X Factor (Greece series 4). In 2017, it was used for the recording of The Voice of Greece (season 3), while it was also once again used for The X Factor (Greece series 5), as well as the for the live finale of Survivor Greece 5.

In autumn 2018, Galatsi Olympic Hall was re-established as Christmas Theater, where various artistic and cultural events started taking place. It has the capacity of 100.000 spectators but, due to the Sars-coV-2 pandemic, events ceased in spring 2020. For Christmas 2020, some events were scheduled online and in summer 2021 live events started anew.