Gran Teatre del Liceu
Barcelona's opera house on La Rambla, rebuilt after a 1994 fire and open for tours.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu opened on La Rambla in 1847, founded by a private society rather than the crown, which distinguished it from the royal theatres of other European capitals. Miquel Garriga i Roca designed the original building, and Josep Oriol Mestres rebuilt the auditorium after a fire in 1861. Through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries the house became a centre of Wagner performance in Spain and a symbol of Barcelona's industrial bourgeoisie.
A second fire destroyed the auditorium and stage in January 1994, leaving only the façade, the foyer and the Saló dels Miralls standing. Ignasi de Solà-Morales led a reconstruction that reproduced the historic horseshoe auditorium while enlarging the stage and adding modern technical space, and the theatre reopened in 1999. It now seats around 2,300 and presents opera, dance, recitals and family programmes. The building can also be visited on guided and self-guided tours.
Highlights
- Horseshoe auditorium reconstructed after the fire of 1994
- Saló dels Miralls, the mirror salon that survived both fires
- One of Europe's largest opera auditoriums, seating around 2,300
- Guided tours of the foyer, salon and auditorium
