Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall

The Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall ("Euskalduna Jauregia", in Basque) is located in the city of Bilbao, in the Basque Country (Spain), beside the Estuary of Bilbao, built in part of the area that was formerly occupied by the Euskalduna shipyards.

It was designed by architects Federico Soriano and Dolores Palacios and work started in 1994. It was opened in February 1999 and contains a variety of spaces, functioning as a conference center, opera house and concert hall.

In 2003 it was declared by the "International Congress Palace Association" as the world's best congress center.

Performance and other facilities

* Auditorium, with 2,164 seats, is used for opera productions by the ABAO ("Asociación Bilbaína de Amigos de la Ópera" / The Bilbao Association of Friends of Opera) and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. It has the largest stage of any theatre in Europe with 1,770 sq. metres.
* Theatre with 614 seats
* Four Conference Rooms with two seating 230 and 270 and two seating 103 and 130
* Eight other meeting rooms
* A Press Room
* A restaurant
* An Exhibition Hall
* A commercial gallery.

In 2003 it was rewarded by the "International Congress Palace Association" as the world's best congress center.

ee also

*List of concert halls
*List of opera houses

External links

* [http://www.euskalduna.net Official site]
* [http://www.abao.org/ ABAO opera company's website (in Spanish)]