About stadium

Stadium introduction

Fiorentina’s stadium first opened on 13th September 1931 with a friendly match against Austrian Side Admira Wien. Initially named in honour of Giovanni Berta who was regarded by the far right as a “martyr of the fascist revolution”, the stadium was constructed during the era of Mussolini, and was used to stir national pride. Hosting matches of the 1934 World Cup which Italy went on to win, nationalists would have argued that it was a great success however immediately after the culmination of the Second World War, fascism fell out of fashion, and the ground was renamed to simply Stadio Communale. Extensively renovated for Italia 90, the second Italian World Cup gave Florence’s Communale Stadium it’s current form, most notably the removal of the athletics track and the expansion in seated places. Prior to this the official attendance record was set at 58,271 on 25th November 1984 during a match against Internazionale. Renamed to Stadio Artemio Franchi in 1991 in honour of the former FIGC president, the existence of Marathon Tower is perhaps the only obvious relic of Il Dulce’s reign. A popular architectural piece of their day, towers were included in the design of many Italian stadiums in the 1920s including Bologna’s Renato Dall’Ara, and Torino’s Stadio Olimpico. Since 2012 the club have been in talks with the city of Florence to construct a state-of-the-art 40,000 capacity stadium within the Mercafir Area of the city. Expected to cost over €300m, the iconic helix staircases and other prime examples of Italian Rationalism may not be around for much longer!

How to get to the Stadium

Artemio Franchi Stadium, Viale Manfredo Fanti, 4, 50137 Firenze, Italy