The Grand Theatre

The building of the Grand Theatre was erected in the years 1825-1833 in the Classicist style. The original design was made by Antonio Corazzi with later changes by Ludwik Kozubowski. Previously, in the 1820s, in the place of the present building, there was a retail, service and hotel complex. The first performance in the newly opened theatre took place on 24 February 1833. In the following years, the Theatre building underwent many reconstructions and modernisations. In 1939, during the defence of Warsaw, the Theatre building was bombed, the façade and the left wing only survived. During the Warsaw Uprising, the surviving part of the building was damaged, and during the capitulation, it was blown up by the Germans. In 1947, reconstruction of the fragmentarily preserved southern wing was initiated. At the beginning of the 1950s, the reconstruction works of the destroyed building were initiated and then one of the largest opera stages in the world was created. The Grand Theatre was to be one of the most modern theatres in Europe. The great opening took place on 19 November 1965.

The photograph shows the partially destroyed building of the Grand Theatre.

The photo comes from the album of the Lubomirski princes from Przeworsk.