Teatro del Libertador General San Martín
Nineteenth-century opera house with a five-tier horseshoe hall and original working stage machinery.
Proposed in 1887 by the provincial minister Ramón J. Cárcano and designed by the Italian architect Francesco Tamburini, the theatre opened on 26 April 1891 as the Teatro Rivera Indarte. Interior detailing was carried out by Arturo Nembrini Gonzaga, and much of the fabric and stage equipment was shipped from Europe. The house was renamed after José de San Martín in 1950, reverted to its original title in 1956 and regained the present name in 1973. It is a national historic monument.
The horseshoe-shaped main hall rises through five tiers and seats about a thousand people. Its wooden floor can be raised to stage level so that the auditorium converts into a single room for balls and civic occasions, and a large part of the original stage machinery remains in working order. Two smaller rooms, the Luis de Tejeda and Rafael Grisolía halls, hold roughly a hundred each. The building also houses the Cristóbal de Aguilar museum of music and theatre, founded in 1970.
Highlights
- Horseshoe auditorium of five tiers seating about 1,000
- Original nineteenth-century stage machinery still in use
- Auditorium floor that rises to stage level for balls
- Base of the Córdoba Symphony Orchestra and provincial ballet
