Teatrul Național „Ion Luca Caragiale” | |
The National Theatre in April 2017, after renovation
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Address | 2 Nicolae Bălcescu Boulevard, sector 1 Bucharest Romania |
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Owner | Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony |
Capacity | 2,880 |
Construction | |
Opened | 20 December 1973 |
Rebuilt | 2012–2014 |
Years active | 1973–present |
Architect | Horia Maicu, Romeo Belea, Nicolae Cucu (initial project) Cezar Lăzărescu (1983 modification) Romeo Belea (2012 remodeling) |
Website | |
www |
The National Theatre Bucharest (Romanian: Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" Bucureşti) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest.
It was founded as the Teatrul cel Mare din Bucureşti ("Grand Theatre of Bucharest") in 1852, its first director being Costache Caragiale. It became a national institution in 1864 by a decree of Prime Minister Mihail Kogălniceanu, and was officially named as the National Theatre in 1875; it is now administered by the Romanian Ministry of Culture.
In April 1836, the Societatea Filarmonica — a cultural society founded by Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Ion Câmpineanu — bought the Câmpinencii Inn to build a National Theatre on the site, and began to collect money and materials for this purpose. In 1840, Obşteasca Adunare (the legislative branch established under the terms of the Imperial Russian-approved Organic Statute) proposed to Alexandru II Ghica, the Prince of Wallachia, a project to build a National Theatre with state support. The request was approved on June 4, 1840. Prince Gheorghe Bibescu adopted the idea of founding the theatre and chose a new location, on the spot of the former Filaret Inn. There were several reasons to favor this locations: it was centrally located, right in the middle of Podul Mogoşoaiei (today's Calea Victoriei); the earthquake of 1838 had damaged the inn beyond repair, and it needed to be torn down.