Throughout Lebanon’s golden era, theaters, cinemas, cafes, and other cultural venues were scattered across Beirut. Today, some of these vestiges of the past have been transformed into residential buildings or commercial cafe chains, while others remain abandoned.
Here is the lowdown about seven former theatres in Beirut.
1. Cinema Montreal
Cinema Montreal opened back in 1978 with a screening of the movie “la Azaa’ Lil Sayiddat”, directed by Hani Barakat. The theater closed its doors in April of 2009 with a musical performance by a Lebanese Kurdish NGO.
Cinema Montreal was located on Hamra Street, now known as the Carre Building.
2. The Grand Theater (Al Teatro Al Kabeer)
Image via blogbaladi.com
The Grand Theater was built in the 1920s on Jacques Tabet’s property at the end of Al Maarad avenue in between the Landmark development and the Azarieh building. It was designed by Youssef Aftimos, a celebrity architect known for building the Beirut municipality and the Barakat building, now known as Beit Beirut. It consisted of a hotel, shops and apartments in addition to the theater itself. The auditorium was a venue dedicated to performances of all kinds.
Today, a ghost opera is screening at this very venue (virtually); titled Shabah El Rih, it is an 11-minute film starring opera singer Monà Hallab. You can read more about that here.
3. The Dome
The Beirut Dome also known as “The Egg” is an-oval shaped concrete structure designed by Philippe Karam back in 1965. The Beirut City Center was a complex within the dome surrounded by towers, and at the time the largest shopping mall in the Middle East. The civil war left the structure damaged beyond repair. The dome, however, survived and with Solidere’s projects in downtown Beirut, numerous plans have been presented to restore the building, one of which was Bernard Khoury’s project where the former theater’s shell would be covered in mirrors, transforming it into a reflective surface. None of the planned projects have gone through due to protests from activists who argue the old building should remain as a living relic and reminder of Lebanon’s tragic 15-year war.
Since 2000, the egg has been used as a regular impromptu art exhibition center and event location. It played a central role in Lebanon’s October 17 revolution where people began exploring the space after it had been abandoned for so long.
4. Cinema Strand
Hamra street had more than 14 theaters in the 1960s, and Strand Cinema was one of them, Located in Hamra’s main street, (currently Sam’s restaurant), Cinema Strand was the first in the Arab world to screen Omar El Sharif’s movie titled “Doctor Zhivago”.
5. Cinema al-Hamra
Cinema al-Hamra’s building was designed by architect Geoges Rais in 1958. Unlike the Strand Center, the main facade of this building faced north and thus received no direct sunlight which enabled the architect to design its facade almost entirely of glass. This building is considered one of the predecessors of the first curtain wall building in Beirut.
Cinema Hamra is considered one of the many reasons why Hamra Street started flourishing in the late 1950s. Other theaters and cafes came right after it like Horseshoe cafe, the Aiglon fashion shop, and ABC.
Cinema Hamra was located on the main Hamra street, where Caribou Coffee was recently located.
6. Piccadilly Theater
Built by Lebanese architect William Sednaoui in 1965, Piccadilly Theater was run by the Itani cinema company. It was considered a major venue for concerts, musicals, and plays in Lebanon during the 1960s and the 1970s even though it had limited seating.
The Piccadilly was known for showing the most important concerts and plays in Lebanon and the Middle East. Fayrouz and Dalida performed multiple times in Piccadilly and Adel Imam’s play, “Shahed ma Shafsh Haga,” was shown there as well. The theater closed down in the mid 1980s.
Cinema Piccadilly, now abandoned, is located on Abdel Aziz Street.
7. Cinema Saroulla
Image via LebaneseLantern
Cinema Saroulla was named after the wife of a famous visiting American producer. It was built in 1961 by Polish architect Chayer Karl and abandoned during the entire period of the Lebanese civil war.
