The 33,000th stadium in Braga was built for Euro 2004. Obviously, at the heart of the creators' idea is the saying that better than mountains can only be mountains. The stadium does not just stand at the foot of the cliff, but joins with it. On the mountain there is a scoreboard, cameras, and a strong beat at the gate can turn into a small rockfall. This beauty cost $ 122 million - one of the most expensive Portuguese stadiums.
Marina Bay (Singapore)
Ball divers are real if you're playing soccer at the Marina Bay stadium in Singapore. The tribune is located on the shore, but the field itself is on a special floating platform. So in a storm it may well be carried away somewhere. But the breakthrough of the fans on the lawn is unlikely - it is surrounded by water on all sides and connected to the land only by a few narrow bridges. The capacity of the stands, by the way, is large - 30 thousand spectators.
Giangito Mulacelli (Brazil)
The stadium in Curitiba is positioned as the first ecological one. The stands are located right on the mountainside, without the use of artificial structures - only the ground and seats. Under-tribune rooms are wooden. Actually, almost all stadiums looked like this 100 years ago.
Sapporo Dome (Japan)
From ecology to hi-tech. The unique stadium in Sapporo was built for the World Cup. It looks futuristic with its streamlined roof and unnatural shape. The arena is equipped with a unique retractable design that allows you to change the football field to a baseball field in just half an hour. By the way, competitions in winter sports are also held here. In general, Dome is a house for all occasions.
Gospik Dolak (Croatia)
If in Braga the stadium rests on the rock on one side, then in Croatia it literally stands in the mountains. The top view of the arena is simply amazing - stones, water, picturesque old buildings. Here and on the field it is not necessary to look - you can just enjoy the scenery.
Kokodrilos Park (Venezuela)
Crocodile and coconuts have nothing to do with the name of the stadium in Venezuela. The arena is notable for its position. Maybe a piece of land in this place was given away for next to nothing? On one side there is a mountain, on the other a valley, on the third an expressway. Maybe car exhausts are compensated by mountain air, but the surroundings of the arena are, frankly, strange.
Estadio Hernando (Bolivia)
Infill development is a scourge not only in Moscow, but also in Bolivia, as it turns out. Not only is this the highest stadium in the world, where the local team plays, it is also so tightly integrated into the urban landscape that residents of an entire microdistrict can watch matches on it.
Victoria Stadium (Gibraltar)
There is not much space in the dwarf state, so there is only one stadium and all matches of the local championship are played on it. national team official games can not conduct here because of the small capacity. And the championship meetings can be interrupted for the time of takeoff and landing of aircraft - the runway of the local airport is right behind the arena wall. . The central street, the famous rock and the sea are also in the neighborhood.
Hernando Siles (Spanish: Estadio Hernando Siles) is the largest in terms of capacity and the national stadium of Bolivia, located in La Paz and accommodating over 41 thousand spectators. It is named after the President of Bolivia, Hernando Siles Reyes, who led the country from 1926 to 1930. The stadium is located in the Miraflores area at an altitude of 3601 meters above sea level, being one of the highest located stadiums in the world that host matches professional teams. There are two performers at the stadium. the most popular club Bolivia - "Bolivar" and "Strongest", as well as a number of small teams, mainly from the lower divisions. The Hernando Siles hosted the 1997 Copa America Final.
The Hernando Siles stadium was founded in 1927, built in three years, and the first match took place on it in 1931 - Strongest beat the local team Universitario with a score of 4: 1. Largely due to the specific natural and climatic conditions, the Bolivian national team and club teams, playing at Hernando Siles, have won sensational victories more than once over strong rivals from more developed countries in terms of football. In 1963, "Hernando Siles" became one of the two arenas of the championship South America, along with "Felix Capriles". The Bolivian national team alternated home matches in La Paz and Cochabamba, and achieved a decisive victory in the penultimate fifth round over Argentina at Hernando Siles, becoming the champion of the continent for the first time. The stadium underwent significant renovations during the reign of President Hugo Banzer Suarez for the 1977 Bolivarian Games, which were held in La Paz. After this reconstruction, the Bolivian national team played for the first time at the Hernando Siles on November 30, 1977 in the return butt intercontinental match for the right to play in the 1978 World Cup against Hungary. The guests won with a score of 3:2 (in Budapest, the Hungarians defeated the opponent with a score of 6:0). In July 1993, in a 1994 World Cup qualifying match at this stadium, Bolivia won a historic 2-0 victory over Brazil, inflicting the Brazilians' first defeat in qualifying tournaments over the previous 40 years. In 1997, Bolivia again hosted the America's Cup. The hosts played all home matches at Hernando Siles - three games group stage, quarter- and semi-finals, as well as final game against the Brazilian team. The Brazilians, at that time the reigning world champions, turned out to be stronger, 3:1, and for Bolivia it was the best performance in the South American Championship (America's Cup) since the victorious 1963. The next historic match for Bolivian football took place at the Hernando Siles in December 2004 when, for the first time in history, a Bolivian team reached the final of an official international club tournament. The most titled club of the country "Bolivar" in the first final match of the South American Cup 2004 managed to defeat the most powerful Argentine "Boca Juniors" (winner of the Intercontinental Cup 2003, finalist of the Libertadores Cup 2004) with a score of 1:0. However, in the return home game, Boca turned out to be stronger 2:0 ...
Historically, people more often chose convenient places to live with favorable conditions, settled along the banks of rivers, lakes and seas or in fertile valleys. But sometimes our ancestors climbed into such wilds, where not only to work, but it is difficult to survive. For example, high in the mountains.
It is curious that the countries in which the highest mountainous settlements of the world are located are by no means northern: go down a few kilometers - it will be warm, and water, and soft soil. But something forced the local, indigenous people to stay closer to the snow-capped peaks and spend most of their lives in isolation.
La Rinconada, Peru
The absolute record holder of our selection is a permanent settlement located at an altitude of 5100 meters! Most people at this level find it hard to even breathe without special equipment, and the locals not only build houses here from improvised materials, but also do hard physical labor - they mine gold.
Once upon a time there was a mining camp on the site of La Rinconada, but a whole city quickly grew out of it with all the infrastructure up to a small stadium. True, there are still no normal roads here, just as there is no sewerage and water supply. Now about 50 thousand people live in the village, but their number is constantly increasing. The weather in La Rinconada is like somewhere in Greenland, although the equator is only 14 degrees of latitude from here. The average annual temperature is plus 1.2 ° C, and most of the time there are frosts and piercing winds.
The ecology of La Rinconada leaves much to be desired: gold is extracted from rocks using mercury, so the soil, air, and water here are pretty polluted with toxic waste. In addition, almost all local mines are illegal, but there is no administration in the city, and no one enforces the laws. Gold goes to the black market at a ridiculous price. So, despite the fact that the reserves of the precious metal in the local rocks are already rather depleted, the seekers still flock here to try their luck.
El Alto, Bolivia
The name of this city, translated from Spanish, means "height", and this is the highest metropolis in the world, the population of which is also constantly increasing. More than a million people now live in El Alto. Once the city was a district of the Bolivian capital La Paz, but then acquired the status of an independent settlement.
It is here that the main international airport of Bolivia (El Alto of the same name) is located - concurrently the highest air harbor in the world, the runways of which are located at around 4061 meters above sea level.
When a plane landing here opens the door, passengers can physically feel the sudden change in pressure. During the warmest time of the year, the air temperature in El Alto rarely exceeds +14–15 °C.
La Paz, Bolivia
Not far from El Alto, at an altitude of 3600 meters, is the highest "capital" on the planet - La Paz. Yes, although Sucre is still the nominal capital of Bolivia, most of the state institutions, including the presidential residence, as well as key enterprises, are located in La Paz.
In addition, the highest mountains in the world are located here. sports grounds- golf course and football stadium named after Rafael Mendoza Castellón, which is certified according to all FIFA rules. However, according to the same rules, the organization of official matches at venues located above 2500 meters above sea level is prohibited due to possible health problems among the players. An exception has been made for the stadium in La Paz.
Lhasa, Tibet
Translated from Tibetan, the word "Lhasa" means "place of the gods." The city is located in a small valley surrounded by five-thousander Himalayan mountains at an altitude of 3650 meters.
Lhasa - the former capital of the independent Tibetan state, once the residence of the Alai Lama was located here, later transferred to the territory of India. The city is under the protection of UNESCO, as it is concentrated a large number of attractions: the ancient Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple, the Norbulingka Palace Complex and so on.
In 2006, a new railway line was opened in the region, Lhasa became its largest station. Trains run from here to Beijing, Guangzhou and other Chinese cities. The height difference is noticeable, so the cars are equipped with oxygen masks.
Namche Bazaar, Nepal
The village of Namche Bazaar is located at an altitude of just over 3400 meters and is well known among climbers, because it is one of the popular starting points for those who intend to climb Mount Everest.
In the village there are many hotels, cafes, shops. However, although tourism is an extremely profitable field of activity, not all locals are happy about it, many even protest against the transformation of Namche Bazaar into a tourist Mecca. Nevertheless, the village even has a helicopter base that offers expensive excursions and is also used to rescue climbers stuck in the mountains.
Namche Bazaar is also known for the fashionable Everest View Hotel, which is located at an altitude of 3800 meters. Everything is provided here for a luxurious holiday and wealthy tourists, including a panoramic dome and additional oxygen supply to the rooms.
Potosi, Bolivia
As you already understood, in Bolivia there are the most record-breaking cities in terms of height. One of them is called Potosi, and it is located at an altitude of 4090 meters above sea level. For four centuries Potosi was the largest and richest city in almost all of America, but now less than 200 thousand people live here.
The city owes its popularity and rapid growth to the once rich silver deposits. So, the mountain Cerro Rico de Potosi, at the foot of which the settlement is located, according to local residents, almost entirely consists of silver ore. However, most of the local silver was taken out by the Spanish conquerors long ago, and after 1800, when the reserves of the precious metal began to dry up, the economic decline of Potosí began.
Today, tourism brings much more profit to the city - travelers are not transferred here, especially since Potosi is easy to get to. Silver is still being mined here, but working conditions are difficult, there are no means of protection, and therefore the age of local miners, alas, is short-lived.
Murghab, Tajikistan
This village in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan is the highest settlement in the post-Soviet space. Murgab is located in the Pamirs, at an altitude of more than 3600 meters. The weather here is changeable: an icy wind and frosts down to -50 ° C in winter, but it can also be hot in summer.
In the village, despite its isolation, several thousand people permanently live - approximately equally Tajiks and Kyrgyz (it is not far from here to the border with Kyrgyzstan). They communicate with each other in Russian.
Also in Murgab there is a school, a bazaar, baths, tourist bases and guest houses. Low-rise buildings - the private sector, two-, less often three-story buildings. It's impossible to get here public transport- only passing SUVs from Dushanbe or Khorog. In winter, the village is practically cut off from the outside world, and you can easily get stuck here for several weeks.
Photo: Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Getty Images, John Coletti / Getty Images, Cultura Exclusive/Ben Pipe Photography / Getty Images, Matteo Colombo / Getty Images, Adisorn Fineday Chutikunakorn (announced) / Getty Images, obliot / Getty Images, Martin Moos / Getty Images
Bolivia is located among the mountains in the center of South America and borders countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Throughout almost the entire second half of the twentieth century, a tense political situation was observed in the republic. Military coups followed one after another, political stability was not observed in the state, and the civilian population suffered due to the constant division of power between Bolivian military officials. Despite the fact that the country has huge reserves of natural resources, including gold, gas and oil, it is the poorest republic in the Latin region of South America. Since 1879, after the defeat in the war with the Peruvians, Bolivia had no access to the sea, but now, more than 130 years later, having concluded an agreement with the same Peru on the lease of a small plot of territory on the Pacific coast, she got the opportunity to build a port, which will give the republic a number of advantages and will increase the economic potential of the state.
Occupying an area of more than one million square kilometers, Bolivia has a diverse natural topography and an abundance of beautiful landscapes, where the highlands of the west are combined with the low eastern plains, overgrown with dense tropical forests. most high point The country is an extinct volcano Sahama, whose height is more than 6,000 meters above sea level. The famous Lake Titicaca, which divides the borders of Bolivia and Peru with its body of water, is considered the second largest alpine lake on the planet. Its climatic features are unique. With a constant temperature of +12 degrees along some parts of the coast, the lake periodically freezes at night, which is not surprising, given the large number of glaciers located around it. More than three hundred rivers flow into the lake from huge glacial peaks.
In the south-west of the republic there is another outstanding natural phenomenon of Bolivia - the Uyuni salt marsh (Salar de Uyuni), which is a dried-up salt lake at an altitude of 3,600 meters above sea level. In terms of its size, it has no analogues in the world. Its main minerals are halite and gypsum. The thickness of the inner part of the surface layer, which consists of table salt, reaches 8 millimeters. When the rainy season reigns over the country, the territory of the salt marsh is covered with a small layer of water, turning Uyuni into a giant mirror that reflects the Bolivian sky. According to researchers, salt reserves here exceed 10 billion tons. In addition to being an important raw material object of Bolivia, the salt marsh also plays the role of a transport crossing to the Altiplano mountain plateau located in the Andes. In the coming years, the state authorities are planning to build an airport near the salt spring. 
The actual capital of the republic is one of the most beautiful cities in Latin America - La Paz. It is located at an altitude of more than 3,500 meters above sea level and is the highest located capital in the world. Interestingly, the city is located in the crater of a volcano that died out several million years ago. There are rare architectural sights here, among which the Diez de Medina Palace, the Church of San Francisco and another palace, Villaverde, stand out. Together with the suburbs, the population of the city is more than one and a half million people. It is one of the largest metropolitan areas on the continent. La Paz is relatively young, its foundation dates back to 1548. There are many high-rise buildings, harmoniously combined with low-rise residential buildings. The bulk of the local population, as in the whole country, are Indians. The average annual air temperature does not exceed +12 degrees.
The perception of the seasons in Bolivia is a mirror image of European concepts. Winter here lasts from June to August, and summer from December to February. Climatic conditions are quite varied. In the Altiplano region, the air temperature is unchanged throughout the year, from +15 to +20 degrees, and on the eastern plains it is quite hot in summer (up to +36), while in winter it is not less than +22. But in mountainous areas, over 4000 meters above sea level, in the winter months (from June to August), sub-zero temperatures are often observed. In general, Bolivia is a warm country with a tropical subequatorial climate. Most of the precipitation falls between December and February. Droughts are not uncommon in winter, while in the rest of the year, tropical showers regularly occur in the lower reaches of rivers and lakes.
One of the most beautiful natural places in Bolivia, reflecting its climate and richness of flora and fauna, is the Toro Toro National Reserve. Here, under the blue sky of Latin America, mountains of stunning beauty stretch out, eclipsing the sun with their grandeur. Deep canyons and unique karst caves with drawings of primitive people and fossils of historical dinosaurs of the Paleozoic period cannot but delight, and without ceasing to admire the amazing landscapes of the park. In the very near future, the authorities of the republic intend to significantly increase the influx of tourists to the country, due to the fact that they will create a new route called "Dinosaur Land" in the Toro-Toro nature reserve and make a picturesque bridge, more than 300 meters long, which will connect the park with major cities Bolivia.
A dozen years ago, this country seemed to be a kind of Latin American Tibet on the territory of South America, due to its closeness and inaccessibility. Now, the "tourist doors" of the republic are wide open, and the priority task of the state is the development of tourism in the shortest possible time. The result of this strategy has been a significant increase in interest in this amazingly beautiful country from tourists, whose number is constantly growing.
