The Municipal Theatre of Lima, inaugurated as the Teatro Forero, is a theatre and concert hall in the historic centre of Lima, Peru. It is home to the country's National Symphony Orchestra. An open space next to the theatre known as the Plazuela de las Artes (or as the Plazuela Rosa Merino) hosts open-air activities.

History

The Forero Theatre was built in 1915, replacing the demolished Olimpo Theatre, according to the design of Manuel María Forero Osorio, born in Tacna. The Renaissance/Baroque-style theatre was inaugurated on July 28, 1920 with the start of the season of the "Grand Italian Opera Company of Adolfo Bracale", who performed Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida. The theatre was named after its builder. Its façade displays three busts of the three most famous musicians in the history of classical music: Wagner, Beethoven and Liszt; The hall has neo-classical columns in the Ionic style and the spacious lobby is accessed through two imposing staircases, in the Louis XVI style, made of marble. The spectator room is in the Italian Renaissance style. The newspaper El Comercio noted the following regarding the first night of the theater: "It is a theater that satisfies the most demanding, beautiful, monumental, elegant, with severe elegance, comfortable and spacious; We have never had anything like it in Peru and it is one of the best theaters in South America."

• El Comercio article It was bought by the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima in 1929 and renamed to its current name through a Mayor's Resolution of June 15 of that year.

Fire and reconstruction

On August 2, 1998, during a show rehearsal, the theater was consumed by a raging fire that lasted two hours and destroyed part of its structure without causing definitive structural damage. The building was partially destroyed by in 1998, and while the building was sporadically open for special performances; it remained unrestored for 12 years. The theater was eventually reconstructed following its original structural design, and it was expanded to include additional parking, anti-seismic technology and updated fireproofing. It was re-inaugurated on October 11, 2010. On April 23, 2008, 10 years after that fateful fire, the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima announced that in 12 weeks the theatre's restoration would begin; Counting on the best architects and restorers in the field, it was expected that at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, the new theatre would be inaugurated. On April 29, 2010, after more than 12 years, a date was set for the completion of the work, the end of 2010. It was planned that on October 7, 2010, the theatre would open its doors again. It was ultimately reinaugurated on October 11, 2010.