Jordão Theatre, Art Deco theatre in Urgezes, Portugal

The Jordão Theatre is an Art Deco building in Urgezes with a complex architectural design made from concrete and brick. The hall features a large stage and seating areas arranged for opera, theatre, and other live performances.

A businessman commissioned an architect in 1937 to build this theatre, and the project was completed in 1938. The building served as an important venue for performances throughout the 20th century until it later closed temporarily.

The theatre opened in 1938 as Teatro Martins Sarmento, a name chosen days before the inauguration by political decision. It kept that name until December 1940, when the Minister of National Education authorised the name Teatro Jordão following the death of Bernardino Jordão on 23 May 1940. The building now houses a School of Visual Arts, Performing Arts and Music.

The theatre stands on Avenida D. Afonso Henriques, the street formerly called Cândido dos Reis, where construction began on 22 February 1937. It reopened on 12 February 2022 as a school of visual arts, performing arts and music, with a main auditorium of 400 seats. Access the building from the avenue; the 1938 house held over 1,200 spectators, so the present hall is much smaller.

The 1938 inauguration programme listed the materials used: 979 lorry-loads of sand and gravel, 13 wagons carrying 127,000 kilos of iron, and 926 lamps totalling 46,000 watts. It noted that the pine alone would stretch as a dual carriageway from Toural to Penha. The building reopened in 2022 as a school of visual arts, performing arts and music, with a 400-seat theatre.