Teatro Villamarta, Art Nouveau theatre in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
Teatro Villamarta is a theatre building featuring Art Nouveau design constructed from concrete, located in Plaza Romero Martinez. The structure was designed by architect Teodoro de Anasagasti and showcases the ornamental and creative characteristics of this architectural style.
King Alfonso XIII urged Jerez mayor Álvaro Dávila y Agreda, Marquis of Villamarta, to build a theatre after attending a show at the Teatro Eslava. The Basque architect Teodoro Anasagasti designed it on the site of the former Convento de la Veracruz and a hospital. Construction began on 10 January 1927, when Miguel Primo de Rivera laid the first stone, and the theatre opened on 11 February 1928 with 2,000 seats, staging the zarzuelas La viejecita and El huésped del sevillano by Eugenia Zuffoli's company.
The theatre hosts the Festival de Jerez and the Centro Lírico del Sur, which produces its own zarzuelas and operas with other Andalusian foundations. Its name honours Álvaro Dávila y Agreda, Marquis of Villamarta, the mayor who commissioned it. The Villamarta Theatre Choir is associated with the venue, and in 2016 it received the Special Jury Prize of the Fundación Premios Líricos Teatro Campoamor.
The theatre is centrally located on Plaza Romero Martinez and is easily accessible on foot. The box office staff can assist with current programming information and help with seat selection.
The windows in the facade's two towers are shaped like wine bottles, a nod to Jerez's sherry trade. The building is also one of the first in Spain to use concrete. In 1988 a file was opened to declare it a monument, and it now holds bien de interés cultural status.
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