Nuevo Monumental

The name gives the story away. What stands today calls itself the "New" Monumental. Atlético de Rafaela built the ground itself in the Barrio Alberdi district, opening it on 12 October 1953 under club president Octavio Zobboli.

What changed it was promotion. When the club reached the Primera División for the first time, the ground had to be rebuilt to top-flight standard, and it re-emerged under its current name on 24 August 2003. This time a away end raised on columns above the lower stand — a fix that solved the visiting-fans problem but left the tier above it unusable.

Cup football has passed through more than league football has stayed. The ground hosted Copa Argentina knockout matches with clubs from well outside Santa Fe province — Newell's Old Boys against Talleres in 2014, Central Córdoba against Gimnasia La Plata in 2018 — neutral fixtures that had nothing to do with Rafaela itself beyond the pitch. A promotion play-off between Sarmiento and Atlético Rafaela was settled here in 2020.

Security has shaped the matchday experience more than architecture has: flags and musical instruments are barred from the stands, a response to crowd trouble rather than to any single incident on record. The pitch remains natural grass, as it always has, on Calle Urquiza y Primera Junta.