Teatro Tacón, Historic theatre in central Havana, Cuba.

Teatro Tacón is a theater building in downtown Havana with a main hall featuring ornate wall details, hanging lights, and classical design elements throughout. The space was engineered with attention to how sound travels, allowing performances to be heard clearly from any seat in the room.

Teatro Tacón opened in 1838, built by Pancho Martí, a businessman from Barcelona who had moved to Havana, and named after Miguel Tacón y Rosique, governor of Cuba from 1834 to 1838. Its auditorium held 2,750 seats. In 1847 Bottesini's opera Cristoforo Colombo premiered there, and by 1855 carriage parking was regulated on performance nights. The Gran Teatro de La Habana was later built around the old hall, keeping the original structure.

For generations, this venue served as the main stage where opera singers, ballet dancers, and theatrical companies performed for Havana's audiences. It remains a center for artistic performances and cultural gatherings that shape how people in the city experience live entertainment.

The building is easy to reach and sits in the downtown area surrounded by shops and restaurants. Visitors should wear comfortable shoes and allow time to explore both the interior details and the neighborhood around it.

The hall was never moved: the Gran Teatro de La Habana was built around the old Tacón auditorium, which was kept in place. Architect Paul Belau and the U.S. firm Purdy and Henderson, Engineers designed the Centro Gallego addition around the existing structure, so the 1838 hall still sits inside the larger building on Paseo del Prado.