Teatro Nacional D. Maria II
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The Queen Maria II National Theatre ( pt, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II) is a theatre in Lisbon,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. The historic
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
is one of the most prestigious Portuguese venues and is located in the Rossio square, in the centre of the city.


History

The theatre was built on the north side of Rossio square on the site of the old Estaus Palace, built around 1450 as a lodging for foreign dignitaries and noblemen visiting Lisbon. In the 16th century, when the
Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
was installed in Portugal, the Estaus Palace became the seat of the Inquisition. The palace survived the
1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...
, but was destroyed by fire in 1836. Thanks to the intensive efforts of Romantic poet and dramatist
Almeida Garrett João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, 1st Viscount of Almeida Garrett (; 4 February 1799 – 9 December 1854) was a Portuguese poet, orator, playwright, novelist, journalist, politician, and a peer of the realm. A major promoter of t ...
, it was decided to replace the old palace by a modern theatre, dedicated to Queen
Mary II of Portugal , image = Queen Maria II by John Simpson.jpg , caption = Portrait by John Simpson, 1835 , succession = Queen of Portugal , reign = , predecessor = Pedro IV , successor = Miguel I , reg-type = Regents , regent ...
. The building was constructed between 1842 and 1846 to a Neoclassical design by Italian architect Fortunato Lodi. The Theatre building was as a Property of Public Interest in 1928, and has been reclassified as National Monument since 2003.


Architecture

The building is the best representative of Neoclassical architecture of
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
influence in Lisbon. The main feature of the façade is a portico (hexastyle) with six Ionic columns reused from the Saint Francis Convent of Lisbon and a triangular
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
. The tympanum of the pediment is decorated with a sculpted relief showing
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...
and the Muses. The pediment is topped by a statue of
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
playwright
Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often ref ...
(c. 1464-c. 1536), considered the founder of Portuguese theatre. Ironically, some of Gil Vicente's plays had been censured by the
Portuguese Inquisition The Portuguese Inquisition ( Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of its king, John III. ...
in the late 16th century. The interior of the theatre was decorated by many important 19th-century Portuguese artists, but much of this decoration was lost in a fire in 1964. The theatre had to be completely renovated and was reinaugurated only in 1978.


See also

*
List of theatres and auditoriums in Lisbon There follows a list of present and past theatres and auditoriums in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. *'' Teatro ABC'' was the last of four theatres built in the Parque Mayer theatre district of Lisbon. It opened in January 1956 and closed in 1 ...


References


External links

*
General Bureau for National Buildings and Monuments (in Portuguese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Theatre D. Maria Ii Neoclassical architecture in Portugal Dona Maria, National Theatre D. Maria II Dona Maria, National Theatre D. Maria II National monuments in Lisbon District