EN
We give several characterizations of the symmetrized n-disc Gₙ which generalize to the case n ≥ 3 the characterizations of the symmetrized bidisc that were used in order to solve the two-point spectral Nevanlinna-Pick problem in ℳ ₂(ℂ). Using these characterizations of the symmetrized n-disc, which give necessary and sufficient conditions for an element to belong to Gₙ, we obtain necessary conditions of interpolation for the general spectral Nevanlinna-Pick problem. They also allow us to give a method to construct analytic functions from the open unit disc of ℂ into Gₙ and to obtain some of the complex geodesics on Gₙ.