Palace of Fine arts, Cultural center and opera house in Mexico City, Mexico
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a theater and cultural center in Mexico City with a copper dome and a white marble facade. The columned entrance hall leads to a large foyer with stairs made of colored marble and glass windows on the walls.
Italian architect Adamo Boari began construction in 1904 commissioned by President Porfirio Díaz for the centennial of independence. After he resigned in 1916, Federico Mariscal completed the building with an Art Deco interior that opened in 1934.
The theater still uses a curtain made of almost one million glass pieces from the Tiffany workshop showing Mexican volcanoes. Visitors see it at the start of many performances when it slowly rises while lit from behind.
The main hall seats over 1500 people and regularly hosts ballet performances, operas, and orchestra concerts. The upper floor houses rotating art exhibitions and murals that are accessible without an additional ticket.
The building weighs roughly 50000 tons and has sunk about 10 feet (3 meters) into the soft ground since completion. You can see the sinking at the steps before the main entrance, which now sit lower than the surrounding sidewalks.
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