The Parc des Princes (French pronunciation: [paʁk de pʁɛ̃s]) is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1973. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed with a very avant-garde architecture for the period. Comfort and visibility were the key words of project architect Roger Taillibert. PSG became the resident club of the new stadium in June 1973 and its image and history has since been associated to Le Parc. Named after the Monarch's hunting grounds that it sits on, it was initially opened as a multi-purpose venue on 18 July 1897. The Parc des Princes is the third largest football stadium in France. Originally a velodrome, it was the finish line of the Tour de France from the first event in 1903 until General Charles de Gaulle ordered to demolish the track in the late 1960s. He decided in 1967 that the Parc des Princes should be dedicated to football and rugby games with a capacity of under 60,000 seats. The Parc des Princes was the national stadium of the France football team and the France rugby union team until the construction of the Stade de France for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The stadium and grounds are owned by the Paris city council and the Société d’Exploitation Sports-Evénements (SESE) holds the concession to the Parc des Princes since 1990.
