| Manaus - Others - Amazonas Theatre |
At the end of the 19th century, 1896, the Teatro Amazonas (Amazonas Theatre) was
inaugurated with all the pomp that is deserved, 12 years after the construction began. The society at that time didn't miss showing up at the presentation
of the artists of the Italian Lyric Company, which had been chosen specially for the show of inauguration.
Until today, there are excellent shows of national and international artinst in the Theatre.
But ], at that time, to watch a show at the Teatro Amazonas was really something special. Manaus was going through a period of economical prosperity. The
European industries wanted to use the latex of the rubber tree of the Amazônia and invested a lot of money in the region.
It was exactly the "rubber barons", enriched with the forreign capital who financided
the construction of the theatre. The project caused controversy from the beginning, because it was too luxurious for a city that didn't have mora then one
hundred thousand inhabitants. There was so much expectation regarding the new cultural space that, during the construction, the TownHall began to offer benefits
to the artinsts who moved to the city.
The splendid architectonic project was designed by B. A. de Oliveira Braga. The external decoration
was done by Henrique Mazalloni and the internal decoration was created by a team made up by Crispim do Amaral, Domenico de Angelis, Silvio Centofanti, Adalberto
de Andreis and Francisco de Alegini.
The dome is made of a metallic structure with 36 thousand vitrified colored tiles, all imported
from Europe. The entrance lobby and the staircase are done in Portuguese and Italian marble. The Noble Hall, used for celebrations and decorated with a large
number of pieces of art, has a special floor, made with 12 thousand pieces of wood fit in without the use of nails or glue.
Besides the beauty of the building, the master piece in the internal part of the theatre are also
worth mentioning, especially the picture "A Glorificação das Belas Artes na Amazônia" (The Glorification of the Arts in the Amazon), by Domenico Angelis,
on the ceiling of the auditorium, the painter Crispim do Amaral drew a representation of a view that someone would have if he was exactly under the Eiffel Tower.
The columns of the auditorium are decorated with 22 masks in honor of the important names of the theatre and music like Shakespeare, Moliére and Beethoven. The
background cloth has a beautiful painting showing the meeting of the Negro and Solimões rivers.
In 1966, the Amazonas Theatre was registered by the National Historical and Cultural Heritage. The
building has gone through various reforms and, after a long restoration in the decade of the 80's, it was re-inaugurated in 1990. Today, the building is painted
pink, its original color.
The tourists who wish to see the Amazonas Theatre can go on a guided tour on Mondays to Saturdays from
9 am to 4 pm. The guided tour takes around 20 minutes and the guides are bilingual.
Address: Praça São Sebastião
Phone: 55-92-622-1880 |
Presentation
