Teatro Degollado

The Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara stands in the historic centre on the Plaza de la Liberación. Construction, initially named after the dramatist Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, was ordered by Governor Santos Degollado in 1855; the cornerstone was laid in 1856, with Jacobo Gálvez in charge. After Degollado's death in 1861 the theatre was given his name. It was inaugurated, still unfinished, on 13 September 1866 with Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and the soprano Ángela Peralta; four further inaugurations followed renovations up to 1964. The portico rests on 16 Corinthian columns, and the pediment mosaic of Apollo and the nine Muses was created by Roberto Montenegro in the 1950s. It is home to the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra and hosts concerts, opera, ballet and folk performances.