Stadium of the National University of San Marcos

The Olympic Stadium of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (acronym: UNMSM Olympic Stadium) or simply San Marcos Stadium, It is located practically in the center of the University City of the University of San Marcos (with its main entrances being through block 5 of Av. Amézaga, and block 36 of Av. Venezuela), in the city of Lima Peru. It has previously been referred to as "Monumental Stadium of San Marcos" or "Olympic Stadium of the National University of San Marcos".

It was inaugurated on May 13, 1951, commemorating the 400 years of the founding of the University of San Marcos. The San Marcos stadium initially had a total capacity for 70,000 people and an area of 48,782 m², becoming at the time the stadium with the largest capacity in Peru. Recently, its use as a venue for mega-concerts has become popular and it has been converted to an official capacity of 32,000 people. The remodeled venue was the official venue for the 2019 South American Under-17 Soccer Championship and is the venue for the 2019 Pan American Games.

It was the official stadium of the university's soccer team, the Club Deportivo Universidad San Marcos, which played until 2011 in the Second Division of Peru when it was withdrawn from all professional soccer activities. In 2019 it was the alternate headquarters of the University Sports Club, which originated at the University of San Marcos and plays in the First Division of Peru, in parallel with being the stage for the 2019 Pan American Games. It has a running track and is near the Huaca of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, an important archaeological site.

During the 2020 and 2021 seasons of Professional Soccer League1 and League2, this stadium was the scene of various matches as well as championship definitions, also including the 2021 Peru Exceptional Cup, all of this as part of the reorganization given by the FPF for the execution of the tournaments mentioned only in Metropolitan Lima due to the COVID19 pandemic. Starting in 2022, the stage has become the home of the Universidad San Martín Club.

In addition, the stadium is used for extra-academic activities of students, teachers and administrative staff of the University of San Marcos. Recently its use as a concert venue has become popular, featuring bands and artists as notable as Metallica, Korn, Gustavo Cerati, Marc Anthony, Bon Jovi, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins, Fania All-Stars, Iron Maiden, Shakira, Slayer, Van Halen, Bad Religion, Juanes, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Noel Gallagher, Lady Gaga, Garbage, The Cranberries, among others.

History

Construction

The Stadium of the University of San Marcos began to be built approximately in 1943, as part of the work of the then "Pro-Unemployed Board". The western stand was placed in the Huaca Concha, the northernmost of the Maranga Complex. The other stands were built with the fillings extracted from it. The sports esplanade coincides with the old archaeological plaza located to the east of the Huaca. Due to its construction on unstable archaeological fills, over the years, cracks and extensive subsidence appeared in the stands. In 1993, Alberto Fujimori's government allocated money to renovate the stadium. When the machines lifted the floor of the esplanade of the western stand, which was the most affected, 1,500-year-old walls and archaeological bundles were exposed. Despite this, the fence and guarding of the place was established, and new foundation footings were built on top of the archaeological architecture.

Inauguration

It was officially inaugurated on May 13, 1951, commemorating the 400 years of founding of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; The inauguration generated great expectations as it was the first large-capacity stadium in Peru, which was attended by the then president Manuel Odría, his minister of education and the rector of the university. The opening match was between Sport Boys from Callao and Palmeiras from Brazil with the result 1-0 in favor of the Porteño team. On January 20, 1952, a Clásico was played for the first time outside the National Stadium of Peru, and the venue for this match was the Universidad de San Marcos Stadium. The match ended with a 4-0 victory for Club Alianza Lima.

Reinauguration

The reopening of the stadium occurred in 1993. However, it was not approved for sports use at that time. Problems were mentioned in the physical infrastructure, security, and even the intensity of the wind, which runs from south to north. It currently has a total capacity for 70,000 spectators and the completed project includes a capacity for 104,000 people. However, it is temporarily only authorized for a grandstand capacity of up to 32,000 attendees, due to some evacuation problems.^{[citation required]}

Remodeling

After several years of inactivity in the stadium, in 2016, the University of San Marcos once again offered its stadium, its gymnasium and its swimming pool to host some of the competitions that the Lima 2019 Pan American Games will have. Although the university authorities of San Marcos previously made a similar offer to the Peruvian Olympic Committee (COP) but it was rejected citing "technical aspects that have not been fully clarified", according to a statement from the university. In mid-2018, the remodeling of the stadium was awarded to the Spanish company Sacyr. The work had a cost of S/ 47 million. Only the three stands (north, east and west) were remodeled, the playing field that would pass from being natural to synthetic (Fifa Pro Quality), the athletic track, the locker room area and the lighting system. It hosted the South American U-17 Championship and the facility was also used for soccer matches at the 2019 Pan American Games.

Closing

On September 2, 2023, the Olympic Stadium of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) was closed for a preliminary period of 60 days, following complaints about excessive noise pollution suffered by the students of the academic campus during hours classes and the residents of the area at night. It was reopened on September 26 of that year with the condition of not exceeding 60 decibels of noise.

Description

It is located practically in the center of the University City of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, with its access points being through Jirón Amézaga s/n and Avenida Venezuela s/n, in the city of Lima, Peru.

The San Marcos stadium has a main soccer field and stands for 70,000 spectators, and there is a project that specifies that they can be expanded to a capacity that allows 104,000 spectators. After the security issue, in terms of exits and access routes, it was allowed to operate with a maximum of 45,000 spectators in the stands, however, after the remodeling of the stadium, it is only allowed up to 32,000 spectators. It has four own lighting towers, as well as two more complementary soccer fields. It is equipped with hygienic services (7 modules with two divisions for men and women respectively, which according to Civil Defense are not enough but which can be solved with the acquisition of portable toilets); locker rooms and an athletic track.

Currently the stadium is used for the official championship of the Second Division of Peruvian soccer, where the Club Deportivo Universidad San Marcos, the university's team, plays at home; in addition to hosting extra-academic activities for students; San Marcos teacher championships and; for other extra-sports events such as concerts, cultural activities, religious activities, etc., in which case it generates sporadic but significant income, which is used to maintain the facilities.

Events

The Monumental Stadium of the University of San Marcos has hosted major sporting events, concerts, conferences, etc. Among the most notable events we can mention:

Sports

• National University Sports Games (Special Edition, 1951)
• National University Sports Games (V edition, 1955)
• National University Sports Games (VII edition, 1983)
• South American Football Championship Sub-17 2019

2019 Pan American Games

For the celebration of the 2019 Pan American Games, the "Lima 2019 Organizing Committee" chose various sports facilities located in the City of Lima, as well as in Callao, as Pan-American venues. Among them, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, which will have the construction of a new multipurpose sports center as well as the remodeling of its stadium. Below is the list of sports that the University of San Marcos would host:

• Stadium of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos: Athletics and football.
• Polideportivo de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (National University of San Marcos)to build): Ritmic, artistic and trampoline, bowling and Basque ball.

Concerts

• Concert of Van Halen (18 February 1983) - Hide Your Sheep Tour
• Concert of Shakira (30 October 1996) - Tour Pies Descalzos
• Concert of Pedro Suárez Vértiz, Nosequien and Los Nosecuantos, Gian Marco " Los Enanitos Verdes - Rock N'Lima- (5 September 2006)
• Concert of Orishas, Daddy Yankee " Cypress Hill -3o Brahma Urban Dance (10 October 2009) - cancelled
• Concert of Metallica - World Magnetic Tour (19 January 2010)
• Concert of Korn (15 April 2010)
• Concert of Gustavo Cerati - Natural Force Tour (24 April 2010)
• Concert of Marc Anthony " Olga Tañón -Fiesta Latina 2010- (13 August 2010)
• Concert of Bon Jovi - The Circle Tour (September 29, 2010)
• Concert of Green Day -21st Century Breakdown World Tour- (October 26, 2010)
• Concert of The Smashing Pumpkins " Stereophonics -Lima Hot Festival 2010- (25 November 2010)
• Concert of Fania All-Stars (19 March 2011)
• Concert of Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier World Tour- (March 23, 2011)
• Concert of Shakira, Ziggy Marley " Train -The Pop Festival-March 25, 2011)
• Concert of Slayer -World Painted Blood Tour- June 11, 2011)
• Concert of Marc Anthony (12 July 2011)
• Concert of Rubén Blades, Luis Enrique, Carlos Vives " Joey Montana -Latin Party 2011- (August 27, 2011)
• Concert of Juan Luis Guerra " Gian Marco (15 September 2011)
• Concert of Bad Religion -30 Years Anniversary Tour- (October 7, 2011)
• Concert of Aerosmith -Back on the Road Tour- (October 22, 2011)
• Concert of Pearl Jam & X -Pearl Jam Twenty Tour- (18 November 2011)
• Concert of Calle 13 (4 December 2011)
• Concert of Jorge González Rios (28 April 2012)
• Concert of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (11 May 2012)
• Concert of Gianmarco (17 August 2012)
• Concert of Juanes -Unplugged Tour- (12 September 2012)
• Concert of Sky Blu (member of the LMFAO duo) (7 October 2012) - cancelled
• Concert of Evanescence -Evanescence Tour- (26 October 2012)
• Concert of Lady Gaga -The Born This Way Ball- (November 23, 2012)
• Concert of Blur (29 October 2013)
• Concert of White Rat - Tour 2014- (6 September 2014)
• Lima Metal Fest 1 Concert with Terrorizer, Nocturnus, Faith or Fear, MX, Machinage, Torture, Sadism, etc (26 September 2015)
• Concert of Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful World Tour - (6 October 2015)
• VIVO X EL ROCK 6 Festival Concert Sum 41, Collective Soul, Hoobastank, Puddle of Mudd, Sepulture, The Casualties - (12 December 2015)
• VIVO X EL ROCK 8 Festival Concert Sum 41, Simple Plan, Garbage, Hoobastank, The Cranberries, The Fabulous Cadillacs, Fito Páez, Papa Roach, Miguel Mateos, velvets - (17 December 2016)
• Concert of Green Day -Revolution Radio World Tour- (14 November 2017)
• VIVO X EL ROCK 11 Festival Concert The Strokes, Slipknot, Interpol, Bullet for My Valentine, The Rasmus, Fito Páez, Don Diablo, Mägo de Oz, The Quartet of Nos - (November 23, 2019)
• Latin Quarter Festival Concert 5 with Don Omar, Tito el Bambino, R.K.M. & Ken-Y, Tony Dize, Baby Rasta & Gringo - December 14, 2019)
• Concert of Guns N' Roses - 2020-2022 Tour- (8 October 2022) - initially by March 24, 2020 and later by October of the same year, postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Halloween Urban Dance Festival Concert with Don Omar, Tito el Bambino, Zion & Lennox, Chencho, Jowell & Randy, Ivy Queen, etc (October 31, 2022)
• Concert of Super Junior (11 February 2023)
• Concert of Calvin Harris (24 February 2023)
• Concert of Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard -The World Tour- (February 28, 2023)
• Concert of Paramore -This is Why Tour- (2 March 2023)
• Concerts Group 5 - 50th Anniversary - (31 March, 1 and 2 April 2023)
• Ultra Peru Festival Concert with Marshmello, Alan Walker, Oliver Heldens, Wade, Timmy Trumpet, among others - (April 22, 2023)
• Concert of The Weeknd -After Hours til Dawn Tour- (October 22, 2023)
• Concert of Swedish House Mafia (3 November 2023)
• Concert of Blink-182 -World Tour 2023/2024- (March 27, 2024) - initially planned for March 14, 2023, but was postponed for health reasons.

Miscellaneous

• Nick Vujicic motivating conference (June 2010)
• Motivating Conference of Michelangelo Cornejo (February 2011)
• Night of Peruvian food (July 2012)
• National Conventions of the Christian Church Pentecost of Peru World Mission Movement.