Albacete
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The Albacete City Council has just approved in the plenary session of March an institutional statement by which it requests the Government of Spain to initiate the necessary procedures for the Circo Theater to be declared a World Heritage Site (PMH) by Unesco.
The municipal government team, at the proposal of the National Association of Friends of the Historical Theaters of Spain (Amithe), has asked the Board, the Albacete Provincial Council, and the representatives of Albacete in Congress and the Senate to support and get involved to make this statement possible.
The proposal recalls that the Teatro Circo de Albacete, inaugurated on September 7, 1887, is considered the oldest operating circus theatrical coliseum in the world, in addition to being one of the few examples of circus theatrical architecture that can still be admired in Europe and the only one in Spain, within those of its kind, that maintains the double capacity to theater and circus.
In addition, they have highlighted that there are many historical and artistic elements that the Teatro Circo de Albacete gathers for its consideration of world example of the best circus theatrical architecture. «Our theater is a unique building by offering, by volume and finish, a beautiful sample of classical circus theatrical architecture, with a clear neo-Arab evocation. This balanced hodgepodge of styles and influences is what makes this theater a meeting place for civilizations, which also provides the uniqueness of continuing to be from 1887 to the present day, not only an operational theater as a theatrical scene, but also a A privileged space for circus arts, thanks to the recovery of its original central court, which today houses the Albacete International Circus Festival, which is a benchmark in a Europe where today this type of architecture is scarce and dispersed, ”the institutional statement states.
Construction
The Teatro Circo de Albacete was built in 1887, in a record time for the time, spanning its construction from January 26 to September 7 of that year. It was promoted by a society made up of 12 Albacetens who dreamed of building a coliseum with a European vocation due to its size and programming, with the hope of accelerating the progress of a city that then did not reach 30,000 inhabitants, but which had a long theatrical tradition that It dates back, at least, to the 16th century when representations were carried out on the exterior and interior of the church of San Juan Bautista (now the Cathedral), and in honor of the Corpus Christi festival.
The primitive building was designed by the draftsman of Public Works, Emilio Vergara, while the works were directed by the municipal architect Juan Peyronnet (son of the architect of the same name who restored the Puerta de Sol in Madrid in the 19th century).
In 1919, the room underwent a profound remodeling that transformed it into an Italian theater in the shape of a horseshoe, with an artistic central vault that concealed the iron structure and its arches, giving it functionality for cinema in successive years.
After almost 100 years open to the service of the society of Albacete, it was closed in 1985. It was necessary to wait until 1993 to be acquired by the City Council of Albacete from a wide association of owners, «endangering in that time of negotiation, security and stability of the Teatro Circo, which came to be the object of looting and fire, ”the statement recalled.
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