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", 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".
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. 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.
The building was completed in 1926 and named by Greek professor William N. Bates after the ancient Greek term 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."
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. 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.
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 in 1967.
The arena hosted the 1968 Intercontinental Cup basketball tournament. however less than 1,000 spectators turned out for the double-header on January 4, 1968.
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.
College basketball at the Palestra
thumb|left|200px|Penn playing at the Palestra in December 2006 The Palestra has hosted more regular season or post-season NCAA men's basketball games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other U.S. arena. 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 (Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, La Salle, 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.