Maksim Gorky Samara Academic Drama Theatre, Drama theatre in Samara, Russia
The Maksim Gorky Samara Academic Drama Theatre is a theatre building in central Samara, built in the Russian Revival style and listed as a federal cultural heritage site. Its facade features towers, arched windows, decorative brickwork, and colored details that make it stand out among the surrounding buildings.
The theatre was founded in 1851 and moved into its current building in 1888, designed by Moscow architect Mikhail Nikolayevich Chichagov. During the 20th century, it received the name of writer Maksim Gorky and was granted the status of an academic theatre.
The theatre is one of the few buildings in Samara that still hosts regular performances while keeping its 19th-century interior intact. The auditorium, with its red velvet seats and gilded decoration, gives visitors a sense of how a Russian provincial theatre looked and felt in its early years.
The theatre sits in central Samara, close to the riverfront, and is easy to reach on foot from most sights in the area. On performance evenings, arriving a little early is a good idea, as the entrance area fills up and the facade is worth seeing under the evening lights.
The architect Mikhail Chichagov, who designed this building, also worked on the reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, which explains the confident scale of what is essentially a provincial building. The Samara theatre is considered one of his last major projects.
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