Gran Teatro del Liceo

The Grand Teatro Liceu is an opera house in Barcelona, ​​one of the most important theaters in Spain, opened in 1847.

The Liceo Theater is one of the few theaters in Europe that was built with private funds. The basis for the creation of the theater was the “Philodramatic School of Montesión” (Spanish: Liceo Filodramático de Montesión), founded by a Spanish military battalion under the command of Manuel Gibert y Sanz. Initially, the institution was intended for both music education and theatrical performances. In 1845-1847, a new theater building was built, which opened on April 4, 1847.

In 1861, the theater was damaged by fire, and in 1893 by a terrorist attack organized by anarchist Santiago Salvador - then 20 people died from a bomb explosion during a performance. The theater reached its heyday in the 1920s, in particular, then the Russian enterprise of Sergei Diaghilev performed at the Liceu Theater.

During the civil war, the theater existed thanks to the support of the city council; in 1939, the theater was nationalized and proclaimed the “National Theater of Catalonia”.

In 1955, the Liceu Grand Opera House hosted the Wagner Opera Festival, usually held in Bayreuth. After a fire on January 31, 1994, the theater was reconstructed and reopened in 1999. The modern theater hall has an area of ​​360 m² and seats 2,292 and is the second largest in Europe.