The Royal Theatre of Thessaloniki (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
:Βασιλικό Θέατρο Θεσσαλονίκης) is the seat of the
National Theatre of Northern Greece
The National (or State) Theatre of Northern Greece (Κρατικό Θέατρο Βορείου Ελλάδος), an institution promoting theatrical plays in Thessaloniki and northern Greece, was founded in 1961 by Sokratis Karantinos, its first ...
and one of the institution’s winter stages. It is located at 2, 30th October Avenue in
White Tower Square in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
and has a capacity of 683 seats.
History
It was built by the architect and urban planner
Konstantinos Doxiadis and was originally intended to serve as the summer stage of the
National Theatre in Thessaloniki, but it was quickly changed to function as a winter stage.
In 1940 the construction was completed and in July of the same year the theatre was inaugurated with the staging of the
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's
Richard III play, starring
Alexis Minotis
Alexis Minotis (; born Alexandros Minotakis ( el, Αλέξανδρος Μινωτάκης); 8 August 1900 – 11 November 1990) was a Greek actor and director.
He first appeared on stage in his native Crete as Chorus Leader and later as Messeng ...
.
During the years of
Nazi Occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
it initially housed various cultural events of the German authorities and as of
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 ...
it became the headquarters of the Thessaloniki State Theatre.
In 1961/62 it served for a short time as the first seat of the Theatre of the
Society for Macedonian Studies
The Society for Macedonian Studies ( el, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon) was founded on April 29, 1939, in Thessaloniki, Greece.Thorsten Kruse, Hubert Faustmann, Sabine Rogge. The purpose of t ...
, which was then moved to the theatre of the Society of Macedonian Studies since the Royal Theatre was considered unsuitable due to the damage it had suffered through the years. In the years that followed it served as a venue for rehearsals and for storage and was gradually abandoned. In
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
, restoration work was undertaken in connection with the ''2nd Biennale of Young Artists from the European Mediterranean Countries'' and subsequently the building became one of the stages of the State Theater of Northern Greece. In
1996 the restoration of the building was carried out by the architects K. Kouroussopoulos and N. Scholidis. The inauguration took place in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
.
Since then, the theatre has been the permanent seat of the State Theater of Northern Greece, featuring a multi-purpose stage (suitable for performances, concerts, movies, etc.), a reception hall, a foyer and various rooms used for various events such as exhibitions, conferences, lectures, etc.
The building also hosts the library of the institution, with an area of about 60 m2 and a reading room.
References
External links
*
National Theatre of Northern Greece - Vassiliko Theatre. www.ntng.gr. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
{{coord missing, Greece
Theatres in Thessaloniki
Buildings and structures in Thessaloniki
1940 establishments in Greece