Do you know which is the oldest public theater in Europe?

Croatia has the honor of having one of the three oldest theaters in Europe and the first public theater ever launched on the old continent.

World Theater Day is celebrated on March 27th since 1962. March 27 was chosen at the 9th World ITI Congress, held in 1961, and is associated with the opening of the first theater season at the Theater of Nations in Paris – reports morski.hr

World Theater Day is an opportunity for theatergoers to remind the public of the power of the performing arts and artistic creativity that stems from a collective creative act. It is also an opportunity to recall theatrical contributions to deepening understanding and peace in the world. On March 27, theaters read messages before plays, and in some theaters admission to plays is free.

Theater on Hvar

The Hvar Theater was built in 1612 on the first floor of the Arsenal, in the historic center of Hvar. The theater is one of the most important naval buildings of its kind in the Mediterranean and has been declared a monument of the national importance of the highest category for the Republic of Croatia.

From the very beginning, through more than four hundred years of its existence, the theater has been the center of the cultural and social life of the City and the Commune. The humanistic atmosphere of the island, the appearance of Renaissance dramatic texts of the Hvar Literary Circle from Lucić and Hektorović to Pelegrinović and Benetović, as well as Hvar’s strong ties with other Adriatic communes Split and Dubrovnik contributed to the construction of the communal theater.

The theater has been rebuilt several times since its founding, and its current appearance was given at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since then, it has undergone a thorough restoration, and today it goes beyond the local community. The Hvar Theater is the center of some of the most important cultural events in Croatia, such as the Hvar Theater Day.

Source: otoci.eu