Baralt Theatre
Maracaibo's landmark theatre on Plaza Bolívar, where Venezuela's first films were screened in 1897.
A playhouse has stood at the north-west corner of Maracaibo's Plaza Bolívar since the 1840s, on land leased for performances by Miguel Antonio Baralt. The neoclassical theatre that gave the site its reputation was designed by the Cuban engineer Manuel de Obando and opened on 24 July 1883 with the zarzuela Choza y palacio. Its ceiling of cedar boards painted with the nine muses became a local emblem. On 28 January 1897 the theatre screened the first films made in Venezuela, two short views of Maracaibo.
The 1883 building was demolished in 1929 once its fabric had decayed beyond repair, and the present theatre, designed by the Belgian architect León Jerôme Hoet, opened on 19 December 1932 with a restrained neoclassical front and a horseshoe auditorium. It was declared a national historic monument in November 1981. A long restoration began in 1986 under the architect Paolo D'Onghia and the theatre reopened on 18 July 1998. It is now managed within the cultural programme of the University of Zulia.
Highlights
- Site of the first screening of Venezuelan-made films, January 1897
- Present neoclassical building of 1932 by León Jerôme Hoet
- National historic monument since November 1981
- Restored between 1986 and 1998 and reopened by the University of Zulia
