Founded in the distant 1839 thanks to the undertaking of a group of affluent people with an interest in promoting the town’s culture, it is still today the oldest working theater in the country.

It sits by one of the banks of the river Yayabo in close proximity to the other two architectonic symbols of the city: the Yayabo Bridge and the Major Parochial Church.

Initially, it sought an aesthetic parentage with the interiors of the famous Theater Tacón of Havana by way of its luxurious horseshoe shaped stalls, beautiful paintings on its ceilings, and acoustic conditions ideal for staging any artistic spectacle.

Over time, however, its structure and the appearance of its interiors have varied considerably on account of the despoiling suffered during the two wars of independence against Spain when it was used as a military garrison, a hospital and even a giant kitchen.

Despite all of this, the denizens of the town have absolutely resisted the possibility of its disappearance as a cultural institution and have always endeavored to help it rise from the ashes and conserve at least part of its original splendor.