Théâtre de Champagne, Theatre in Troyes, France

Théâtre de Champagne is a stone circus building on boulevard Gambetta in Troyes, inaugurated in 1905. Its light stone facade carries a steep triangular pediment with a finial, a balustrade across the upper section and a rounded, ribbed roof element at the side. A glazed arch above the words THEATRE DE CHAMPAGNE sits between red-framed doors; two round-arched windows flank the entrance, one holding a dark curved sculpture, the other a grid of small images.

The first circus on this site's lineage was built in 1861, held a thousand spectators and was lit by gas; it burned down in 1892. A second circus, holding two thousand, burned in 1901. The town then had architect Henri Schmit build the present stone circus on the mail Preize from 1903, inaugurated on 18 March 1905; Denis Tsaropoulos modified it in September 1930.

The building was renamed Théâtre de Champagne in 1978, when it became the municipal theatre. Its name recalls the Champagne region, and the glass doors carry the address www.maisonducontournage.com. The stone circus of 1905, inscribed as a monument historique in 1975, is now used for theatre programming rather than circus acts.

The building stands on boulevard Gambetta, on the mail Preize, in Troyes. The entrance shown in photographs is the central glazed arch between two round-arched windows, one holding a dark curved sculpture and the other a grid of small images. The doors carry the address www.maisonducontournage.com, so check the current programme before travelling.

The building was inaugurated on 18 March 1905, and boxer Marcel Cerdan fought there. In 1967 the city turned it into a convention centre, and in 1975 it was listed as a monument historique inscrit; it also holds the label Patrimoine du XXe siècle.