Teatro Colón, Cinema building in central Lima, Peru
Teatro Colón is a cinema and theater building in central Lima designed in Beaux-Arts style with distinctive horizontal bands across the facade and Corinthian columns at the corners. The building holds multiple performance levels with a total of approximately 900 seats distributed across the orchestra, balcony, gallery, and box sections.
The building was constructed in 1914 by architect Claude Sahut and initially functioned as both a cinema and venue for live performances in Lima. It later underwent several major renovations, including the removal of its original large dome and the addition of an extra floor to match the height of surrounding structures.
The theater long served as a gathering place for Lima's wealthier residents and shaped the city's cultural life for many decades. Visitors can still sense the traces of this glamorous past in the interior design when walking through the space.
The theater is located at a central street corner in downtown Lima and is easy to find and reach on foot. Visitors should allow time to admire the exterior architecture and locate the entrance on the street side.
The venue screened Peru's first sound film in 1920, marking a significant milestone in the country's film history. This pioneering moment established the theater as a key landmark in the development of Peruvian cinema culture.
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