Baltazar Dias Municipal Theatre

The Municipal Theatre Baltazar Dias was built in 1884 by the Town Hall of Funchal. Augusto Tomás Soler, an engineer from Oporto, who followed the neoclassical and Italian lines of the National Theatre of Sao Carlos in Lisbon, designed the project. Yet, the painting and decoration were in charge of the artists Eugénio Cotrim and Luigi Manini.

The Theatre, as locals affectionately name it, has received several names since its inauguration. First was called D.Maria Pia Theatre in honour of the wife of King Luís I, but after the establishment of the Republic switched to Funchalense Theatre and subsequently was named Theatre Manuel de Arriaga, who’s a former deputy for Madeira and first president of the Republic. Currently endures the designation Municipal Theatre Baltazar Dias, in honour of Baltazar Dias, a playwright and poet with origins in Madeira.

Located in Avenida Arriaga, the Municipal Theatre Baltazar Dias is a centenary building of high architectural value, where passed the most important cultural events of Madeira. The interior is beautiful with rich details which highlight the ceilings painted with decorative elements of the romantic era, and its audience, horseshoe-shaped, surrounded by boxes decorated with speakers of Greek theatre masks, carved in gilded wood. It is undoubtedly an area of ​​culture that is worth visiting and where you can enjoy plays, exhibitions, music and other artistic productions.