Soldier Field

Soldier Field on Chicago's lakefront is the oldest stadium in the NFL, the home of the Bears wrapped in its historic Doric colonnades. A 2003 renovation dropped a modern glass-and-steel bowl inside the original 1920s shell, giving the stadium a striking mix of neoclassical and contemporary architecture. Its lakefront setting alongside Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline makes it one of the most scenic venues in football. The smaller, more intimate capacity keeps the crowd close to the action on cold Chicago Sundays.

Soldier Field opened in 1924 as a memorial to American war dead and has been home to the Bears — the "Monsters of the Midway" — since 1971, following stints by the Cardinals and other tenants earlier in the stadium's history. Its 2002-2003 renovation modernized the bowl but was controversial enough that the National Park Service revoked the building's National Historic Landmark status in 2006, making it the only landmark ever delisted for that reason. Despite that loss, the colonnades remain a beloved Chicago icon, and the stadium continues to host Bears games, international soccer matches, and concerts on its lakefront grounds.