JOSE ALVALADE STADIUM

Venue Capacity: 52,000 Cost: �52m Home Club: Sporting Lisbon Enlarge Image

And its roof is supported by four giant masts said to represent great Portuguese sailing ships.

The stadium, wrapped in a complex which has bars, restaurants, cinemas and bowling alleys, will host the Uefa Cup final in 2005.

Owners of the venue have also studied the acoustics carefully to ensure it can stage top-quality concerts.

The Portuguese capital, which spreads over a series of hills on the north bank of the River Tagus, is famed for its busy nightlife - and a wide choice of restaurants, bars and clubs.

You can hear traditional fado singing, Portugal's version of the blues, in more than 30 venues although tourists should check admission prices.

Lisbon also boasts one of Europe's coolest nightspots, Lux, part-owned by actor John Malkovich.

The region as a whole includes the romantic town of Sintra with its Moorish castle, and the cosmopolitan resorts of Cascais and Estoril.