Teatro Solís

The Teatro Solís in Montevideo's Old Town, beside Plaza Independencia, opened in 1856; construction had begun in 1842. It is named after the navigator Juan Díaz de Solís, the first European to reach the Río de la Plata. It was based on a design by the Italian architect Carlo Zucchi, which Francisco Javier de Garmendia revised and carried out. The facade recalls the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, and the slightly elliptical auditorium, with stalls and four tiers, recalls La Scala in Milan. Tomás Giribaldi's La Parisina, considered Uruguay's first national opera, premiered here in 1878. The city has owned the theatre since 1937; the Comedia Nacional and the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra made their debuts here in 1947 and 1959. After a renovation begun in 1998 it reopened in 2004; the main hall seats up to 1,145.