National Theatre of El Salvador, Renaissance theatre in Centro Histórico, San Salvador, El Salvador

The National Theatre of El Salvador stands on the south side of Plaza Francisco Morazán on Calle Delgado, in the historic centre of San Salvador. The French architect Daniel Beylard designed it in French Renaissance style with Rococo, Romantic and Art Nouveau details, built with the Hennebique reinforced-concrete system. Its hall seats 650, with three tiers of boxes, a presidential box on the second level, and an ellipsoidal dome holding a mural by Carlos Cañas and a glass lamp.

The previous National Theatre burned down on 17 February 1910. A competition in 1911 drew 12 entries from France, the United States, Monaco, Italy and El Salvador; Daniel Beylard's "Melpomene" won. President Manuel Enrique Araujo laid the first stone on 3 November 1911, and the theatre opened on 1 March 1917, built by Ferracuti & Compañía.

The cupola of the Great Hall was painted in 1977 by Carlos Cañas with the fresco El mestizaje cultural, covering about 230 m2. Cañas led students of the Bachillerato en Artes and artisans of Ilobasco in the work, done during the 1976 remodeling led by Ricardo Jiménez Castillo. The mural is often compared to the Chagall ceiling of the Palais Garnier in Paris.

The theatre stands on Calle Delgado, on the south side of Plaza Francisco Morazán, in the historic centre. The main entrance opens onto the Gran Foyer; the elliptical dome with Carlos Cañas's mural and the crystal lamp rise above the hall, and the Presidential Box sits on the second of the three tiers of boxes. The smaller chamber rooms host short, small-scale productions.

In the 1990s, the Japanese government donated modern sound and lighting systems to enhance performance capabilities. This investment helped equip the theatre for contemporary productions.