Victoria Eugenia Theatre (San Sebastian)
Victoria Eugenia Theatre is a splendid cultural space inaugurated in 1912. At the time, it was a popular opera house where many "zarzuelas" and theatre pieces were premiered. It later became a venue for important audiovisual events such as the San Sebastian Film Festival until 1999.
Designed by the famous architect Francisco de Urcola with an unmistakably Spanish Neoplateresque and Neo-Renaissance concept, the theatre occupies an area of 2,400 square meters. At the time, this construction caused an impact because all the buildings had a strong French influence, while the Salamanca palace inspired the Victoria Eugenia Theatre in Monterrey.
The façades of the building, built with sandstone, present many decorative details, including a series of busts on the main façade depicting important aristocratic personalities of the city. Other attractive details are the magnificent vault that covers the main room decorated with splendid frescoes by the artist Ignacio Ugarte, with a marked costumbrista theme.
The theatre’s original capacity was 1,250 seats. However, after important renovations were carried out during the first years of the 21st century, this capacity was reduced to 900 seats, with the aim of installing more comfortable and modern seats and eliminating those seats with poorer visibility.
After more than a century of history, the Victoria Eugenia Theatre is considered the epicentre of San Sebastian's cultural life and one of the most important active theatres in Spain.
Designed by the famous architect Francisco de Urcola with an unmistakably Spanish Neoplateresque and Neo-Renaissance concept, the theatre occupies an area of 2,400 square meters. At the time, this construction caused an impact because all the buildings had a strong French influence, while the Salamanca palace inspired the Victoria Eugenia Theatre in Monterrey.
The façades of the building, built with sandstone, present many decorative details, including a series of busts on the main façade depicting important aristocratic personalities of the city. Other attractive details are the magnificent vault that covers the main room decorated with splendid frescoes by the artist Ignacio Ugarte, with a marked costumbrista theme.
The theatre’s original capacity was 1,250 seats. However, after important renovations were carried out during the first years of the 21st century, this capacity was reduced to 900 seats, with the aim of installing more comfortable and modern seats and eliminating those seats with poorer visibility.
After more than a century of history, the Victoria Eugenia Theatre is considered the epicentre of San Sebastian's cultural life and one of the most important active theatres in Spain.
Location
What to see in San Sebastian
