Hermitage Theatre, Historic theatre in Palace District, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Hermitage Theatre stands along the Palace Embankment with its neoclassical Palladian architecture designed by Giacomo Quarenghi, featuring a semicircular auditorium decorated with colored marble and ten niches originally intended for statues of Apollo and the muses.
Built between 1783 and 1787 during Catherine the Great's reign, the theatre replaced the earlier Russian Imperial Theater and was constructed on the site of Peter the Great's demolished Third Winter Palace, with remnants of its foundations still visible on the ground floor.
The theatre served as a venue for imperial court performances, hosting premieres of works by composers like Domenico Cimarosa and featuring legendary performers such as Mathilde Kschessinska, Anna Pavlova, and Fyodor Chaliapin during the late Russian Empire era.
Located within the Hermitage Museum complex in the Palace District, the theatre is accessible to visitors near Admiralteyskaya metro station and offers guided tours alongside occasional ballet and opera performances with schedules available through the museum's official channels.
The theatre preserves its original 18th-century stage machinery and was inaugurated on November 22, 1785, with a capacity for only 250 spectators, maintaining a special loge that was reserved for architect Giacomo Quarenghi and his family.
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