From one of the most unique stadiums in Japan and perhaps the world, we travel to South America for this Pléiades 1 Stadium of the Month with a look at one of the most bizarre, Cocodrilos Sports Park.

Name & Its Origin: Admittedly, the information contained in this Pléiades 1 Stadium of the Month article will likely be brief as well there just is not much out there on this stadium, as we decided to focus on Cocodrilos Sports Park for its unique location, not for its international fame. As close as we can figure, the name is a shout-out to the famed and nearly extinct Orinoco crocodiles which can be found in some of Venezuela’s freshwaters.

A 50-cm color image of Cocodrilos Sports Park in Caracas, Venezuela collected on March 8, 2013 by Pléiades 1B. To see this stadium in SPOT 6/7 1.5-meter resolution check out this month’s feature on SPOTMaps. This image has custom processing and color balancing applied by Apollo Mapping. © CNES 2015, Distribution Airbus Defense and Space / Spot Image S.A., France, all rights reserved.

Location: Cocodrilos Sports Park is located in the hills on the south-western edge of Venezuela’s capital and largest city, Caracas. The stadium is some 3,300 feet above sea level and about 9 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Stadium Capacity/Size, Architect & Build Date: This elevated stadium was inaugurated on July 20, 2005 by the owner of the Caracas Football Club, Guillermo Valentiner. It appears that Cocodrilos is one of two Venezuelan stadiums built and owned by a professional football (soccer) team.

Type of Field Surface: Pictures of the football pitch at Cocodrilos Sports Park suggest it is an artificial turf as there are no signs of wear in any of the key areas one might expect with a natural grass field.

Key Sports Teams: The professional soccer team, the Caracas Football Club, built Cocodrilos (or at least the football pitch, that is unclear) so they are the key users of the field. It appears some lower-ranked soccer teams (the minor leagues so to speak) use the stadium as well. The Crocodile Caracas play their home games at the onsite basketball court.

Most Popular Yearly Event: This one is tough to figure out but my guess would be any home game for Caracas FC is a big deal – especially given that since they were founded in 1967, they have won eleven First Division titles and are the most successful soccer team in the country.

Fun Factoids: (1) This multi-use sports complex was built where a quarry once stood. (2) Besides a football pitch, Cocodrilos features basketball courts, pool tables, softball fields, racquet ball courts, junior tennis and even music lessons! (3) When built, the soccer stadium held 3,500 fans – and there are plans for two expansions to 6,000 and then 15,000 fans respectively.

The Pléiades 1 High-Resolution Satellite Constellation

The Pléiades 1 constellation (or at least part of it!) has been in orbit since December 2011 and if you have not had a chance to check out any sample imagery, take a few moments and have a look at the gallery on our website. If you work with high resolution imagery, you should consider Pléiades 1 for your next geospatial project.

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