O2 Arena

A vibrant venue on the banks of the Thames, there’s far more to London’s O2 Arena than meets the eye. Originally known as the Millennium Dome, this mercurial structure was built in celebration of the transition into the third millennium. The Dome offered something called the Millennium Experience, which was a sprawling art exhibition that looked at who humans are, what humans do and where humans live.

While the exhibition received plenty of plaudits from the public, it is known to have bombed critically. This poor critical reception eventually led the exhibition to close down. However, the structure lived on.

After rumours that the site might become a corporate business park, huge telecommunications provider, O2, eventually bought The Dome and transformed it into the O2 Arena. A key element of the O2 entertainment district, The Dome is now used for everything from sports events to music performances.

• The Dome featured in the James Bond 1999 blockbuster, The World Is Not Enough.
  
• The building allegedly cost around £789 million to make.
  
• New Jersey Rock legend, Bon Jovi played the music venue opening gig in June 2007. The show went so well that Bon Jovi returned in 2010!
  
• The O2’s overall capacity is thought to be around 20,000.
  
• More than 600 artists have now played the O2.
  
• The O2 is now thought to have seen over 60 million people visit the venue.