For fans of the FC Barcelona football team, this is almost a holy site: Camp Nou, which translates to the "new pitch." Until 2001, it was called Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona. It's the team's home turf and the place where a number of world-famous footballers have played. Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Gerard Pique and Pep Guardiola all became big names here.

A must-see for soccer fans and tourists

Along with Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell and the Picasso Museum, Camp Nou is part of every sightseeing tour in Barcelona. But it's not just an ordinary stadium: It's something of a pilgrimage site for soccer fans from all over the world. It is no surprise, then, that, even on days when there's no game, a long queue typically forms in front of the main entrance to the stadium in the early morning. Fans wait to take a tour through the biggest stadium in Europe. The massive stadium has space for almost 100,000 people — and, after a planned renovation, there will be room for a few thousand more.

From the tunnel to the dressing room

Camp Nou is always worth a visit. At least, this is how DW reporter Hendrik Welling felt. For the avid soccer fan, a childhood dream came true when he was allowed to take a look behind the scenes of the stadium for the series "Europe to the Maxx" as part of the DW lifestyle and culture magazine "Euromaxx." Join him on his tour of the Camp Nou in our video.

Inside the stadium, you'll find the FC Barcelona museum. Here, visitors can marvel at the club's various trophies and succumb completely to the cult of Messi and Co. On the guided tour, you can also see the commentators' boxes, the away team's changing room and the coach's bench from close proximity. Finally, visitors can — at least almost — feel like a real football star themselves, when they walk through the players’ tunnel and enter the stadium.

Loyalty for all eternity

That the cult of football in Camp Nou has long since taken on an otherworldly character is demonstrated by FC Barcelona's plans to put a mausoleum in the stadium. In future, around 30,000 fans could find their final resting place here, and thus show their loyalty to the club even after their passing. That seems to be the only logical next step for the temple of football that is Camp Nou.

Service tips:

Address: Camp Nou, C. Aristides Maillol 12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Getting there: From Barcelona city center by metro (line 3 to Collblanc, or line 5 to Les Corts); buses and trams also stop nearby.

Hours: Guided tours daily, apart from game days. The museum is also open on these days

Admission: Guided tours start at €28 ($32)

Special tip: Only a few meters from Camp Nou, you'll find La Masia, FC Barcelona's youth academy. Messi, Xavi and Iniesta among many others began their careers in this historic building.

The accompanying book

It's Europe at its most extreme: The series "Europe to the Maxx" on DW's lifestyle and culture magazine Euromaxx makes Europe's superlatives experienceable — from extraordinary architecture to spectacular landscapes and unique cultural phenomena. Accompanying the series, the book "111 Extreme Places in Europe That You Shouldn't Miss" was published in cooperation with Emons Verlag. It is an alternative travel guide that's both informative and entertaining and ideal for avid travelers, fans of Europe and anyone who likes to show off with unusual pub quiz trivia. It's full of guaranteed record-breakers!