Landmark South America
Amazon Theater
The Amazon Theater is a pink theater with a colorful dome. It is in Manaus, a city in the Amazon in Brazil. People come here to watch operas, music and dance!
The Amazon Theater (Teatro Amazonas) stands in Manaus, Brazil. It opened on 31 December 1896, during the rubber boom. Its dome is covered with 36,000 pieces brought from France, and since 2026 it has been part of a World Heritage Site.
Teatro Amazonas, on the Largo de São Sebastião in Manaus, was inaugurated on 31 December 1896, during the peak of the Amazon rubber cycle. It mixes European architecture with Amazon motifs and local materials, was listed as national heritage by IPHAN in 1966, and in 2026 joined the World Heritage List as part of the Amazonia Theaters, with the Theatro da Paz in Belém.
Photo: Karine Hermes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Amazon Theater
The Amazon Theater is in Manaus, a city in the Amazon in Brazil.
It is a pink and white building with a big, colorful dome on top.
The Amazon Theater, called Teatro Amazonas in Portuguese, stands on the Largo de São Sebastião, a square in the center of Manaus. The state of Amazonas calls it the state's main cultural and architectural symbol.
It opened on 31 December 1896. Today it hosts operas, concerts, dance and theater.
Teatro Amazonas stands on the Largo de São Sebastião in central Manaus. The Amazonas state culture department calls it the state's principal cultural and architectural symbol and says it keeps alive much of the history of the rubber cycle, the golden age of the Amazonian capital.
Inaugurated on 31 December 1896, it is still the stage for the Amazonas Opera Festival, dance and theater festivals, and the state's own performing companies.
- Where
- Largo de São Sebastião, Manaus, Brazil
- Opened
- 31 December 1896
- Seats
- 684
- World Heritage Site
- 2026 (Amazonia Theaters)
A theater from the rubber boom
Long ago, rubber brought lots of money to Manaus.
The city grew, and this grand theater was built!
UNESCO says the rubber cycle reached its economic peak between 1879 and 1912. During that time the theater was part of the large-scale urban development of Manaus.
It opened in 1896. Brazil's heritage institute, IPHAN, listed it as national heritage in 1966, and in 2026 UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List.
UNESCO places the theater in the Amazonian 'Golden Age', the economic peak of the rubber cycle between 1879 and 1912. Inaugurated in 1896, it was part of the large-scale urban development of Manaus and, with the Largo de São Sebastião, expressed the wealth and prestige of the city.
IPHAN listed it in 1966. In 2026 it was inscribed with the Theatro da Paz in Belém (inaugurated 1878) as the Amazonia Theaters, under criteria (ii) and (iv).
Built with materials from far away
The dome is made of 36,000 colorful pieces.
They came all the way from France, across the ocean!
The state of Amazonas describes the building's style as Renaissance with eclectic details. Its dome is covered with 36,000 pieces imported from Alsace, in France.
Most of the building materials came from Europe: steel walls from Glasgow in Scotland, and 198 chandeliers and Carrara marble for the stairs, statues and columns from Italy.
The architecture is Renaissance with eclectic details, according to the state culture department, and its dome is made of 36,000 pieces imported from Alsace, France. Most of the construction material came from Europe: steel walls from Glasgow, and 198 chandeliers and Carrara marble for the stairs, statues and columns from Italy.
IPHAN says the Amazon theaters mix late-19th-century European artistic, urban and technological influences with elements of the Amazon landscape and local materials, including many Amazonian woods.
Inside the theater
Inside, 684 people can sit and watch a show.
The big curtain is a painting of two rivers meeting!
The auditorium holds 684 people, in the stalls and three floors of boxes. Its curved ceiling has four paintings, made in Paris, that stand for music, dance, tragedy and opera.
The stage curtain, painted in 1894 by the Brazilian artist Crispim do Amaral, shows the meeting of the Negro and Solimões rivers.
The auditorium seats 684 across the stalls and three tiers of boxes. Its concave ceiling holds four canvases painted in Paris by the Casa Carpezot, representing music, dance, tragedy and opera, around a French bronze chandelier; masks on the columns honor composers and playwrights.
The stage curtain, made in 1894 by Crispim do Amaral, depicts the meeting of the Negro and Solimões rivers. The ceiling of the Salão Nobre, the hall where the great social events of the time were held, was painted by Domenico de Angelis in 1899.
- Seats
- 684
- Dome pieces
- 36,000
- Chandeliers
- 198
- Stage curtain
- 1894, Crispim do Amaral
In front of the theater
This photo shows the pink theater and its colorful dome.
In front there are pink railings, stone walls and round black posts.
Karine Hermes took this photo on 30 September 2015. It shows the pink and white theater with its tall columns, a carved relief at the top and the colorful dome behind. Pink railings run along stone walls, and round black posts stand on the paved ground.
The theater also has a museum, and the state lets children up to 10 years old in for free.
The photo (Karine Hermes, 30 September 2015, Wiki Loves Monuments) shows the pink and white facade with its columned porch, a carved relief in the arched top, the patterned dome, pink balustrades on stone walls, and round black posts on the paving.
The theater's museum shows pieces from its history, including eight opera stage models made for festival productions. The state lists free entry for children aged up to 10.
Amazing facts
-
The stage curtain is a painting of two rivers meeting!
The stage curtain, painted in 1894, shows the meeting of the Negro and Solimões rivers.
Crispim do Amaral's stage curtain of 1894 depicts the meeting of the Negro and Solimões rivers.
-
The theater's walls are made of steel from Scotland!
The theater's steel walls came from Glasgow, in Scotland.
Most of the construction material was imported from Europe, including steel walls from Glasgow.
-
Inside there are 198 chandeliers!
The theater has 198 chandeliers from Italy.
The 198 chandeliers and the Carrara marble of the stairs, statues and columns came from Italy.
Words to know
- theater
- a building where people watch plays, operas, concerts and dance
- opera
- a play in which the story is sung with music
- dome
- a round roof shaped like half a ball
- rubber
- a stretchy material made from the sap of certain trees
- chandelier
- a hanging light with many branches or lamps
- boxes
- small private seating areas on the side walls of a theater
Discovery challenge
-
In which city is the Amazon Theater?
In which Brazilian city does the Amazon Theater stand?
Teatro Amazonas stands on the Largo de São Sebastião in which city?
- Manaus
- Lima
- Havana
Show the answer
Manaus
Manaus!
Manaus, in the Amazon.
Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas.
-
When did the theater open?
In which year did the Amazon Theater open?
In which year was Teatro Amazonas inaugurated, on 31 December?
- 1896
- 1966
- 1720
Show the answer
1896
In 1896!
In 1896.
1896; IPHAN listed it in 1966.
-
How many pieces cover the dome?
How many pieces cover the theater's dome?
How many imported pieces make up the dome?
- 36,000
- 3,600
- 360
Show the answer
36,000
36,000!
36,000.
36,000, imported from Alsace, France.
-
Which country did the dome's pieces come from?
From which country were the dome's pieces imported?
The dome's pieces were imported from Alsace, in which country?
- France
- Japan
- Peru
Show the answer
France
From France!
France.
France (Alsace).
-
What is painted on the big stage curtain?
What does the stage curtain of 1894 show?
What does Crispim do Amaral's stage curtain depict?
- Two rivers meeting
- A snowy mountain
- A big ship
Show the answer
Two rivers meeting
Two rivers meeting!
The meeting of two rivers, the Negro and the Solimões.
The meeting of the Negro and Solimões rivers.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how the rubber boom changed Manaus.
- Name materials that were shipped from Europe to build the theater.
- Describe what is inside an opera house.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why do you think a city in the Amazon built such a grand theater?
- How would people have moved steel and marble from Europe to Manaus in the 1890s?
- What kind of show would you like to see in this theater?
Try at home or in class
- Make a dome mosaic: cut colored paper into small pieces and glue them onto a paper half-circle.
- Find Manaus, the Amazon River and France on a world map, and trace a route a ship might take between them.
Key vocabulary: theater, opera, dome, rubber, chandelier, boxes
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Amazonia Theaters , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Os Teatros da Amazônia , IPHAN (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional)
- Teatro Amazonas , Secretaria de Estado de Cultura e Economia Criativa do Amazonas
- File:Teatro Amazonas Atualmente 01.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.