Grand Stadium
"On show today! We have the highly anticipated final race of the Lortur Series; come and see which of our fine charioteers will win, and gain the favour of the gods. Also today! Come and see the dangerous animals of the far North! Spotted cats larger than a man! River Cows with a mouth large enough to swallow a child! And for today only - ritual execution of the Butcher of Maintown!"Located in Belyos, the Grand Stadium is the world's largest entertainment complex, and is used for multitude of events such as horse and chariot racing, gladiator fights, and staged spectacles such mock battles and theatre. A building for entertainment purposes has stood on the site since 110 IY, but the original building, much altered from its first design, was damaged during the Sakamohr occupation and all but destroyed in the fire that occurred during their later years. Til-Yaltur ordered the construction of a much larger replacement, able to host races using horses; something that prior to the Sakamohr was an unknown in the Empire. Today, with a capacity of almost 300,000, it is the most popular venue in Belyos, and Imperial law caps the price of tickets, so even the poorest of Belyos' residents can afford to visit. A wise emperor knows that keep people happy is vital in such a city, so put on plenty of spectacles for the masses.
Purpose / Function
To raise the necessary funds for its construction, Meais convinced the various temples that the majority of the events taking place would be of a religious nature, with only a minority being secular. Once complete, however, the temples were not pleased to see the majority of events being for popular consumption. Meais placated them with promises that a happy population was a devout population, and so the arena's entertainment purpose was well established.
In the almost 1900 years of the site's existence, it has been almost always been for the entertainment of the masses. The Sakamohr used the venue for their ritual combat, and later Sakamohr rulers used the rapidly deteriorating city as their headquarters as it offered marginally more protection than the ruins that Lanyar Castle had become.
After Til-Yaltur's reconquest of the city, the site was little more than ruins, and so he decreed the building of a new structure, much larger and able to stage racing with horses that were now available.
Architecture
As with most of Belyos constructed since the reunification of the Empire, the Grand Stadium heavily features columns and arches in its design. Considered a high point in Early Reconstruction architecture, the building gives the impression of being impressive, but also light and airy. Some criticism has been given to the exposed nature of the seating for all but the most wealthy, and although crowd control is carefully managed, when there are extremely popular events the crush to get in and out can be overwhelming for some.
The main entrance to the stadium features a collection of statues of all the Emperors since Jamal Hudor (not counting the Sakamohr of course), and retains some empty plinths for future Emperors.
History
Emperor Meais' original stadium started construction in 110 IY, and took seven years to complete. It was circular in nature, with seating around just four fifths of the edge. Whilst the intent was to provide entertainment for the masses, it only had a capacity for several thousand, and as the city grew in size, this was considered inadequate.
In 257 IY, Emperor Gerak I commissioned major improvements to the building that took three years to complete; seating was placed around the entire circumference, and raised higher, increasing its capacity to well over ten thousand. Careful placing of paths and entrances and exits allowed for the quick cycling of audiences, so that more people could be entertained in a shorter period of time. Despite this, and the restriction on immigration to the city implemented thirty years prior, demand for the stadium quickly outstripped its capacity to supply, and there was talk of building a second one.
Construction on a second stadium began in 411 IY, under the direction of Emperor Lavern, near the Emperor's palace, Lanyar Castle. It was construction workers who were blamed for the fire that started and spread into the Castle, killing the Emperor and his entire family. Work stalled on the site for several years afterwards, and a lot of the material designated for the new stadium were used to rebuild the castle.
Concerns about the inadequacy of the stadium grew to a head in 522 IY, and Emperor Keuer commissioned a total overhaul of the existing structure, as the island was growing too crowded to establish an entirely new facility. Half of the building was torn down and extended and although the work took over five years to finish, it greatly expanded the stadium's capacity to over thirty thousand.
Keuer's stadium would stand in its current form, with only minor alterations and maintenance for almost seven hundred years. Although it could be argued that the amount of repairs and reconstructions that took place over this time meant it was no longer the same stadium built then. When the Empire broke up in 1218 IY, various factions vied for control of the city and the conflict and decimation of the population meant that events all but stopped being held there.
By the time the Sakamohr invaded and captured the city, the stadium had stood unused for several decades, with most of its ornate architecture damaged and some of the stone cannibalised to repair other parts of the city. During the sacking of the city by the Sakamohr, the stadium was damaged even more, but the invaders took to using the facility for their traditional ritual combats, and it remained largely intact.
The latter years of the Sakamohr occupation saw Lanyar Castle being almost entirely destroyed in in-fighting between Sakamohr factions, and subsequent leaders used the stadium as their base, filling in some of the entrances with rubble. As Sakamohr authority collapsed entirely, and the Imperial alliance approached the city to evict them, a fire started in the city that saw the stadium entirely gutted, with only the outline of its stone framework remaining.
With the population of Belyos a mere fraction of its historical levels, the stadium site was left a ruin for many decades, with most of its stone being used to repair other buildings considered more important. The open space in the middle became to regain some of its original purpose, with Belyosian natives conducting plays and entertainment there, but this was not scheduled. The nominal rulers of the city at the time were the temples, and they disapproved of anything too frivolous.
After Til-Yaltur's reunification, the city regained its prominence, and the population started to grow, quickly. Before it got to be a problem, in 1721 IY, Til-Yaltur commissioned the construction of a brand-new stadium, far larger than any that came before, and capable of hosting the new sports of horse riding and chariot racing. Construction took almost twenty years, but the inaugural games are considered one of the greatest spectacles in modern Imperial history.
Til-Taranor oversaw a significant expansion in the capacity of the stadium in 1819 IY and a general overhaul of the facilities to meet the massive population of the city, and the stadium has changed little in the years since.
Founding Date
110 IY (started)
Type
Arena
Parent Location
Owning Organization
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