Théâtre de la Cité-Variétés

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In the middle the location and extent of the theater
Demachy of the Saint-Barthelemy church by Pierre-Antoine Demachy
Auditorium of the theater
Ball in the Théâtre de la Cité, later known as the Prado

The Théâtre de la Cité-Variétés is a former theater on the Île de la Cité , in the 4th arrondissement in Paris. It was located on the Rue de Barillerie, which no longer existed in the meantime. Today the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris is located here .

prehistory

As early as the 5th century, the first building was erected as a palace chapel with the name Saint-Barthélémy. This was expanded under Hugo Capet around the year 965 and a Benedictine order was established. In 1138 it became the royal parish church, as it was opposite the city palace, where the Palais de Justice now stands. After the royal residence was moved to the Palais des Tuileries , Saint-Barthélémy lost its importance and became a normal parish church. After various renovations in the 14th and 17th centuries, the church had again become dilapidated and instead of being renovated, a new building was planned in 1770, which, however, was never to be completed.

Location and architecture

The property was located at 7 rue de la Barillerie, not far from the Pont au Change , along rue de Pelleterie. In the course of the French Revolution , the dilapidated church was demolished in 1791, except for the main facade, and a theater building was built in its place by the architect Nicolas Lenoir , which was the largest in Paris at the time of construction and had 1900 seats. Since the house only offered access from the narrow side on Rue Barillerie, the architect had passages created on the ground floor through the neighboring buildings. The Passage de Flore from the Rue de la Pelleterie and the Passage du Prade from the Rue de la Vieille Draperie, both of which led directly into the vestibule. The entrances to the façades were classicistic and there were various shops in these passages.

Above the whole was the theater hall, an elliptical main hall with a rectangular front stage. The walls were divided by Greek columns. The gallery protruding into the hall had boxes with five rows of seats each over two floors. The theater also had sanitary facilities.

In 1808, the first Marché aux fleurs was built on the open space created by the demolition of the old town between the Rue de la Pelleterie and the Seine-Quai . The unadorned exterior facade of the theater came to the fore for the first time.

The theater

The theater was opened under the name Henry IV , was renamed the Théâtre du Palais des Variétés shortly afterwards and was already called the Théâtre de la Cité-Variétés in the following year, 1792. Vaudevilles, comedies and pantomimes were given and had great success until 1799 due to his revolutionary pieces. The decline of the house began. In 1802 a German group of singers took over the theater and named it Théâtre de Mozart . The troupe of the Théâtre des Variétés was looking for a temporary venue in 1806 until their parent company was finished and played on this stage until 1807, when the Napoleonic theater decree came into force.

After the decree was repealed in 1815, the theater also reopened. However, the program of the house now called Spectacle des Veillées was now very diverse. Regular performances continued, but it also served as a ballroom and the vestibule was used as a café. The boxes were rented out for private parties. In the 1850s, only a shabby ballroom was left of the former theater.

The end

As part of the urban redevelopment under Georges-Eugène Haussmann , the Boulevard de Sébastopol was to be continued over the Pont au Change. In 1858 the theater was closed and, like the entire quarter, demolished and the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris built in this place .

literature

Coordinates: 48 ° 51 ′ 21.3 "  N , 2 ° 20 ′ 47.9"  E