Cine-Teatro Monumental, Lisbon

About

The Cine-Teatro Monumental was a large theatre and cinema in Lisbon, capital of Portugal. It opened in 1951 and closed in 1984. The Cine-Teatro Monumental was designed by the architect Raúl Rodrigues Lima (1909-1980) and was situated at the Praça Duque de Saldanha in Lisbon.

It followed the modernist style appreciated by the authoritarian Estado Novo government of the time and contained a cinema and a theatre. The building was commissioned in 1943 by the Minister of National Education, Mário de Figueiredo, and construction was approved in 1946. The structure was covered with stone and ornamented on one of its corners with a large column, topped by an armillary sphere (a symbol much-loved by the Estado Novo).

The main public entrance, facing Praça Duque de Saldanha, had seven arched doors with direct access to the ticket offices. Internal decoration included chandeliers, paintings by Maria Keil and sculptures by Euclides Vaz. The complex was leased by the businessman and impresario Vasco Morgado with the intention of presenting theatrical performances, operettas, and variety shows of the type that could attract audiences large enough to fill the theatre.

In the 1970s, an additional...