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{{short description|Arena and gymnasium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania}}
{{About|the Pennsylvania sports arena|the Greek and Roman sports arenas|Palaestra}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
| name = The Palestra
| nickname = ''The Cathedral of College Basketball''
| image = Palestra interior.jpg
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 15
| coordinates = {{Coord|39.951411|-75.188606|type:landmark_region:US|format=dms|display=it}}
| location = 235 S 33rd St<br />Philadelphia, PA 19104
| broke_ground = 1926
| opened = January 1, 1927
| closed = 
| demolished = 
| owner = [[University of Pennsylvania]]
| operator = University of Pennsylvania
| surface = 
| construction_cost = 
| architect = [[Charles Klauder]]
| former_names = 
| tenants = [[Penn Quakers men's basketball]] (1927–present)<br />[[Penn Quakers|Penn Quakers men's wrestling]] (1927–present)<br />[[La Salle Explorers men's basketball]] (1955–1989)<br />[[Philadelphia Big 5]] (1955–1999)<br />[[Temple Owls men's basketball]] (1955–1984)<br />[[Penn Quakers women's basketball]] (1970–present)<br />[[La Salle Explorers women's basketball]] (1972–1989)<br />[[Philadelphia Rage]] ([[American Basketball League (1996–1998)|ABL]]) (1997–1998)<br/>[[Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball]] (2008–2009)<ref name="philly.com">[http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20080109_St__Joes_-_Hawks_to_call_Palestra_home_in_08-09.html St. Joseph's to call Palestra home in '08-09] ''Philadelphia Daily News'' January 9, 2008</ref>
| seating_capacity = 8,725
| public_transit = {{rint|septa|60px}} [[Penn Medicine Station]]<br>{{bus icon|12px}} {{rint|septa|60px}} [[SEPTA]] bus: {{SEPTA bus link|21|30|42|49|LUCY}}
{{Infobox PAhistoric
| embed = yes
| name                 = 
| PAhistoric_type      = PA
| designated_PAhistoric_type = December 3, 2022
| image                = Palestra Historical Marker.jpg
| alt                  = 
| caption              = Historical Marker
| coordinates          = <!-- use {{coord}} -->
| locmapin             =
| map_alt              = 
| map_caption          = 
| location             = 
| built                = 
| demolished           =
| architect            = 
| architecture         = 
| governing_body       = 
}}
}}
'''The Palestra''' is a historic [[arena]] and the home gym of the [[Penn Quakers]] men's and women's [[basketball]] teams, [[volleyball]] teams, and [[wrestling]] team. Located at 235 South 33rd St. on the campus of the [[University of Pennsylvania]], in the University City section of [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], the arena opened on January 1, 1927. The Palestra is particularly regarded for its importance in the history of [[college basketball]]. Nicknamed "The Cathedral of College Basketball",<ref>[http://www.visitphilly.com/sports/philadelphia/palestra/ Palestra]</ref><ref name="The Palestra tour">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULi42N9Epw8 The Palestra tour]</ref> the arena has been called "the most important building in the history of college basketball" and is said to have "changed the entire history of the sport for which it was built".<ref>[http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/814485 Top 15 College Basketball Arenas of All Time]</ref>

The arena originally seated about 10,000, but now seats 8,725 for basketball. The Palestra is famed for its close-to-the-court seating with the bleachers ending at the floor with no barrier to separate the fans from the game.

At the time of its construction, the Palestra was one of the world's largest arenas.<ref>{{cite news |title=College basketball's cathedral, the Palestra, celebrates 90 years|author=Nicole Auerbach|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2017/02/06/college-basketball-cathedral-the-palestra-celebrates-90-years/97561946/|website=USA Today|date=2017-02-06 }}</ref> It was one of the first steel-and-concrete arenas in the United States and also one of the first to be constructed without interior pillars blocking the view.

Since its inception, the Palestra has hosted more games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other facility in college basketball.<ref name="The Palestra tour"/>

==History==
[[File:Palestra1927.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Palestra (1927)]]
The cornerstone of the new building was laid down on December 23, 1926 by Sydney E. Hutchinson, chairman of the Council on Athletics of the university. A metal box was placed in the stone in which was placed United States coinage, a history of Franklin Field, a history of Penn basketball, the Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia daily newspapers, and a photograph of the season's captain of the Penn basketball team, Paul Davenport.<ref>{{cite news |last=|first=|title=Lay Cornerstone of Penn's Big Palestra|newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer|date=December 24, 1926|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=16}}</ref>

The building was completed in 1926 and named by Greek professor William N. Bates after the [[ancient Greek language|ancient Greek]] term ''[[palaestra|palæstra]]'', a rectangular enclosure attached to a gymnasium where athletes would compete in various sports in front of an audience. Penn's Palestra was built adjacent to and today is connected to Hutchinson Gymnasium.

The first basketball game at the Palestra was played on December 30, 1926 when Penn's second team hosted and beat the Pennsylvania Military College 21 to 17 in front of 2,000 spectators. The ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' wrote, "So much splendor beamed from the high walls, the concrete stands, and the huge open ceiling that the game paled in comparison. It was hardly a befitting opening for the Palestra, but as the official dedication has been saved until Saturday, Penn will have another chance throw wide the doors of the hall in a blaze of glory."<ref>{{cite news|title=Use Second Team In Win Over Cadet Five|newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer|date=December 31, 1926|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=14}}</ref>

[[File:19270101PalestraInquirer.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"Formal Opening of the New Pennsylvania Palestra" in ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' on January 1, 1927]]
The Palestra hosted its first varsity basketball game on January 1, 1927. Pennsylvania defeated Yale 26–15 before a crowd of 9,000 then the largest crowd ever to attend a basketball game on the East Coast.<ref>{{cite news|title=Red and Blue Quintette Dedicates New Palestra With Victory Over Blue|newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer|date=January 2, 1927|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=S-1}}</ref> Tickets to the first game were advertised for sale at one-dollar for reserved tickets and fifty cents for general admission. Dancing was held after the game at no additional charge.<ref>{{cite news|title=Championship Intercollegiate Basketball|newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer|date=December 26, 1926|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=S-5}}</ref> 

For many years, the building shared the same management as [[Madison Square Garden]] in [[New York City]]. Teams wishing to play at the Manhattan venue were often required to schedule a game at the Palestra, which thereby hosted several very high-level sporting events. Many professional games were played at the Palestra before the completion of the [[Spectrum (arena)|Spectrum]] in 1967.

The arena hosted the [[1968 Intercontinental Cup (basketball)|1968 Intercontinental Cup]] basketball tournament.<ref name="COPAS">[http://www.realmadridbasket.galeon.com/interconti.htm 3 COPAS INTERCONTINENTALES; 1 MUNDIAL DE CLUBS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711063419/http://www.realmadridbasket.galeon.com/interconti.htm |date=2011-07-11 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref> however less than 1,000 spectators turned out for the double-header on January 4, 1968.<ref>{{cite news |last=Forbes |first=Gordon |date=January 5, 1968 |title=Akron, Madrid Move Into Final For World Cup |page=24 |work=Philadelphia Inquirer |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-akron-madrid/182048647/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=September 29, 2025}}</ref>

The Palestra's 50th Anniversary was celebrated on February 10, 1977.

During the [[2011 NBA lockout]], on September 25, 2011, a team including NBA stars [[LeBron James]], [[Chris Paul]], and [[Carmelo Anthony]], among others, took on Team Philly, a team of NBA players with connections to the Philadelphia area. Team Philly won the game 131–122 in front of 8,725 attendees.<ref>{{cite news |title=N.B.A. Stars Find a Place to Play: A Philadelphia Arena|author=Matt Flegenheimer|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/sports/basketball/locked-out-nba-stars-find-a-home-in-philadelphia-arena.html?_r=2&ref=sports|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-09-26 |access-date=2011-09-22|page=D2}}</ref>

==College basketball at the Palestra==
[[Image:Boxing out, UCI vs Penn - 23 December 2006.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Penn playing at the Palestra in December 2006]] The Palestra has hosted more regular season or post-season [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] men's basketball games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other U.S. arena.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upenn.edu/admissions/tour/tourstop.php?stop=11 |title=Virtual Tour of Penn's Campus: The Palestra |access-date=2008-09-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610104727/http://www.upenn.edu/admissions/tour/tourstop.php?stop=11 |archive-date=2008-06-10 }} Virtual tour of Penn's campus</ref> It is often called "the birthplace of college basketball". It has hosted the East regionals six times (most recently in 1980), and the sub-regionals ten times (most recently in 1984). In total, 52 NCAA Tournament games have been played at the gym since it first came to Penn's campus in 1939.

The [[Philadelphia Big 5]] ([[University of Pennsylvania|Penn]], [[Saint Joseph's University|Saint Joseph's]], [[Temple University|Temple]], [[La Salle University|La Salle]], [[Villanova University|Villanova]]) originally played all of its games at the Palestra. Today, the intra-city conference still plays about half of its round-robin games there. St. Joseph's hosts its Big 5 games at the gym, which is larger than its own [[Michael Hagan Arena]], formerly Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. During the 2008-09 basketball season, Saint Joseph's played all their home games at the Palestra while the then Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse was undergoing an extensive renovation to become the Hagan Arena.<ref name="philly.com"/>  The annual [[Battle of 33rd Street]] between [[University of Pennsylvania|Penn]] and [[Drexel University|Drexel]] was also held at the Palestra until 2013, when the series was suspended due to a location dispute. In 2015, the series resumed; however, it became a home-and-home series alternating between The Palestra and [[Daskalakis Athletic Center]] every year.

[[Image:Palestra.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Exterior of the Palestra in April 2007]]
In addition, parts or all of the 1989-95 [[Atlantic 10 Conference]] men's basketball tournaments were contested there, as were the 1985 [[MEAC men's basketball tournament]] and the inaugural [[Ivy League]] [[2017 Ivy League men's basketball tournament|men's]] and [[2017 Ivy League women's basketball tournament|women's]] tournaments in 2017. The gym has also served as the site of many Philadelphia and [[Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association|PIAA]] championship games.

The Palestra hosted a [[Big Ten Conference]] game between [[Michigan State Spartans men's basketball|Michigan State]] and [[Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball|Penn State]] on January 7, 2017, with the "home-standing" Nittany Lions prevailing 72–63. Penn State has continued to do this in several of the following seasons, with the next match-up taking place in the 2025–26 season.

The [[2017 Ivy League men's basketball tournament]] (March 11–12, 2017) and the [[2018 Ivy League men's basketball tournament]] (March 10–11, 2018) were held at the Palestra.

==2000 renovation==
[[Image:Palestra 2016.jpg|thumb|left|200px|An empty Palestra in 2016]]
In 2000, a $2 million renovation to the gym added a museum celebrating the history of Philadelphia basketball in the building's main concourse. Near the main entrance to the gym is a section recognizing the St. Joseph's acclaimed [[The Hawk (Saint Joseph's University mascot)|Hawk mascot]] who made its first appearance at the Palestra on Jan. 4, 1956. At the other end of the concourse, by the ramp to sections 211 and 210, a scoreboard lists the all-time record of the Penn-Princeton rivalry. Each decade, from the 1950s onward, has its own exhibit in the concourse. The 1970s section, "A Decade of Prominence", celebrates the Final Four runs by Villanova (1971) and Penn (1979).

In summer 2007, [[ESPN Classic]] broadcast a one-hour documentary on the historic arena, entitled "The Palestra: Cathedral of Basketball". This feature-length documentary traces the evolution of college basketball through the rise of the arena. NBA great [[Bill Bradley]], Naismith Hall of Fame Coaches [[Chuck Daly]], [[Jack Ramsay]] and [[John Chaney (basketball, born 1932)|John Chaney]], best-selling sports author [[John Feinstein]], Penn Band director [[R. Greer Cheeseman III]], and then-CBS/ESPN analyst [[Bill Raftery]] are interviewed. The film was written, produced and directed by former Penn Women's Basketball player Mikaelyn Austin (founder of Philly Philms).

==See also==
{{Portal|Philadelphia}}
*[[Franklin Field]]
*[[List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*
* [http://www.palestradocumentary.com The Palestra: Cathedral of Basketball - documentary on historic gymnasium, premiered on ESPN] 
* [https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=1974962 Five we like, Five we want to see]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070716195940/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0707/campus.top10.venues/content.5.html Palestra named one of the Top Ten College Sports Venues by Sports Illustrated]

{{Penn Quakers men's basketball navbox}}
{{Penn}}
{{navboxes
|titlestyle  = {{CollegePrimaryStyle|Penn Quakers|border=1|color= white }}
|list =
{{Ivy League basketball venue navbox}}
{{Pennsylvania NCAA Division I college basketball venue navbox}}
{{La Salle Explorers men's basketball navbox}}
{{La Salle Explorers women's basketball navbox}}
{{Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball navbox}}
{{Temple Owls men's basketball navbox}}
{{Big 5}}
}}

[[Category:1927 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Basketball venues in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:College basketball venues in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:College volleyball venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Indoor arenas in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:La Salle Explorers men's basketball]]
[[Category:Penn Quakers basketball]]
[[Category:Philadelphia 76ers]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Big 5]]
[[Category:Saint Joseph's Hawks basketball]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1927]]
[[Category:Temple Owls basketball venues]]
[[Category:Penn Quakers sports venues]]
[[Category:Wrestling venues in Pennsylvania]]