A veritable nugget of Parisian sporting heritage, the Salle Trévise basketball court is quite simply the oldest court in the world. Located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, it has stood the test of time and is currently being renovated. To help finance the work, you can even “adopt” a strip of the court’s parquet floor!
An ancestral basketball court in the heart of Paris
Just two years after the invention of basketball in the United States, the French equivalent of the YMCA imported the concept to the capital and played the very first basketball game in Europe. The Treviso arena can therefore easily be considered the cradle of the orange ball on the old continent. Made up of 7,444 parquet slats imported directly from the USA, it corresponded to the standards of the time, and was therefore much smaller in size than it is today.
More than 130 years later, the hall is still standing, and is thus considered the world’s oldest surviving court. However, such status is inevitably synonymous with obsolescence, and therefore with deterioration. Badly damaged, the complex is now only open for Heritage Days, and was classified as a Historic Monument in 2006. But to save this heritage, work has been launched, and it’s possible to participate in our own way. Here’s how.
Of the numerous parquet floor strips, 2024 can be “adopted” via a system of patronage. On the dedicated website, you can sponsor a strip and put your name to it. The money received will then be used to restore the floor, which is in an advanced state of deterioration. Once the work is complete, each sponsor’s name will also be inscribed on a commemorative plaque.
So if you’d like to make your contribution and perhaps become part of history, adopt your blade!