And it turns out that the second heel was actually lost here but it's not about that fairy tale. I laugh because when I get silly 🤣... I have no time to stop. I'm sorry. Please, a bit of seriousness. The word is ’Tacón‘.
Let's go then.
What I have come to show you is the Main Theatre of Marianao, also known in its time of splendour, so many years ago that they cannot even be counted, as the second Tacón of Havana, in a clear allusion to the Tacón Theatre, a magnificent work of architecture in its time, and which today is still, of course, with its modifications. I am talking about the Great Theatre of Havana or Alicia Alonso Theatre.
Honestly, the photo of the facade had its complications or I was not in my character as a photographer that day.
It is said that the first thing that existed on these premises, before the theatre was ordered to be built in 1858, more or less, was a bandstand where musicians played. It was also a place frequented by visitors to the El Pocito spa. I imagine that many pleasant events took place there. My grandma told me that in her youth, for example, some of her friends found love in the bandstand of Artemisa Park. It is the funniest thing because she says that walking around the park and going round that spot between furtive glances with this or that gentleman was very amusing. I suppose the same thing happened in all the bandstands. Lol.
(Please, some English speaker tell me what to call this, bandstand, roundabot, gazebo... I don't know what I am writing)
😜
An upside-down heart to illustrate my mood when I saw what I saw.
The thing is that if the ‘Tacón’ Theatre was named in honour of the General Captain Don Miguel Tacón in his time, this one was surnamed ‘Concha’ in honour of another General Captain, Don José Gutiérrez de la Concha.
Screenshot from fotosdlahabana.com showing the roundabout or whatever of The Burnt.
Now I don't know why it was called that :(
The acoustics of this new theatre, inaugurated on June 17, 1858, were spectacular, according to those who knew it. And as it quickly gained popularity the Havana aristocracy became regulars there, to the country neighbourhood of Marianao, to enjoy theatre plays and zarzuelas.
It's a headache just to see the state it's in. A work of architecture that also has a historical connotation.
In 1926 there was a cyclone that devastated the theatre... we know what cyclone came after and left it in the condition it is in now. But speaking of that one, the so-called cyclone of 26, a few months later the building was restored and became the Main Cinema. The Lumiére cinematograph that had arrived in Cuba in 1897 by the Frenchman Gabriel Veyre was a novelty.
Its neoclassical style of exacerbated sobriety makes it unclear whether it was designed in the style of the early theatres of the time or if it was designed so to save money.
I believe that for more than two decades this was the place par excellence for the seventh art in Marianao until a cinema with better technological conditions was built and so the clientele of this place began to decline, then it was given the most varied uses, except for what it was built for.
A side view.
When I stood on the other side of the 51st Avenue to get the first photo of this post, there were people at the bus stop who started talking to me about the Main Theatre or Main Cinema.
They spoke with nostalgia. All the inhabitants of Marianao, the older ones, the ones who knew it working, would like to see it restored.
What a time those were!, an elderly man exclaimed. And I was left thinking of the state of destruction in which I had seen the amphitheatre of that locality before. I have already published it here in Hive with great sorrow.
@nanixxx/for-those-who-may-be-interested
That you see in the background, in blue, is the post office where I went that day to ask why the postcards that livinguktaiwan sent me have not arrived. No one can give me a coherent answer. But that is another matter... Well, it's the same thing, the post office doesn't work either. I'm getting a bit upset. I'd better finish this post.
I couldn't get into that place to do urban exploration properly. The fences are kept painted and in good condition.
Original content by @nanixxx. All rights reserved ©, 2024.
Hive Photographers Unite!
If you are a photographer on Hive too, come join us in the Hive Photographer Discord Channel so we can make Hive a better place for photographers.