Estádio Governador Plácido Aderaldo Castelo

The stadium's history splits into two distinct buildings under one name. What opened on 11 November 1973 as the Estádio Governador Plácido Aderaldo Castelo bore little resemblance to what stands on Avenida Alberto Craveiro today; the reconstruction ahead of the 2014 World Cup was thorough enough that the arena reopened on 16 December 2012 as effectively a new ground, retaining only the site and the name locals had already shortened to Castelão.

During the World Cup itself capacity was held down to around 58,700, a concession to the tournament's seating requirements. That figure crept back up afterwards, and a 2023 upgrade that fitted new seating restored the ground to its intended 63,904, making it once again one of the largest stadiums in the north-east of Brazil.

It is shared rather than owned by a single tenant. Ceará Sporting Club and Fortaleza Esporte Clube, the city's two biggest rivals, both call it home, with Ferroviário Atlético Clube occasionally added to the rotation — an arrangement that keeps the Castelão in near-constant use despite belonging to the state of Ceará rather than any of the clubs themselves.

The playing surface has stayed natural turf throughout, even as hybrid pitches have become standard at comparable venues elsewhere in Brazil; proposals to switch have been discussed without being acted on. The older nickname, Gigante da Boa Vista, referring to the neighbourhood, has largely fallen out of use since the 2012 reopening in favour of Castelão or the more formal Arena Castelão.