Éden Théâtre

About

La Ciotat, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, opened as a theatre on 15 June 1889. Louis Lumière, inventor of the Cinematograph camera in 1895, shot his first films at La Ciotat in the summer of that year and the Eden hosted some screenings in the autumn of 1895. The date of 21 March 1899 was recognized as the first paid cinema session at the Eden Theatre.

This makes the Eden Theatre the oldest active cinema in the world, registered at the Guinness World Records with 127 years old, on March 21, 2026. Since 12 February 1996, the site has been listed as an additional inventory of historical monuments. It has been owned by the city of La Ciotat since 1992 and is part of the 7th Art heritage.