Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Rochefort Municipal Theatre, also known as the Coupe d'Or Theatre, was built between 1767 and 1769 on the initiative of Pierre-André Hébre de Saint-Clément, Mayor of Rochefort from 1767 to 1771. The purpose of this project is to provide a public venue for local officers, shipowners and contractors, while performances were held in private lounges. A first theatre, built in 1766 by the Italian Miguel Angelo, collapsed during the works, resulting in a trial and condemnation of his architect. The current building is then entrusted to the Lombard painter and architect Giovanni Antonio Berinzago, who designs an Italian theatre on the site of the private hotel of the Golden Cup, in an expanding area thanks to the activities of the Arsenal and the Royal Corderie. Inaugurated in the spring of 1769 as Théâtre de la Marine, it became a symbol of Rochefort's cultural dynamism.

The theatre was delapidated and expensive to maintain and was bought by the municipality in 1852. The architect Antoine Brossard led a restoration and expansion campaign, modernizing the facade, the peristyle, the armchairs of the floor, the decorations and gas lighting. The building was re-opened in 1853. Two other major restorations follow: in 1971, Marc Quentin inspired the theatre of the Queen of Versailles to redo the hall, then between 2009 and 2012, Thierry Algrin, chief architect of the Historic Monuments, oversees the work of standard-setting, security, accessibility and cleaning of the frescoes of the dome, dated 1884. These frescoes, depicting the Muses, are the work of the painter Constantine.

Ranked a historic monument by decree of 26 December 1969, the Coupe d'Or theatre is distinguished by its three-part architecture (house, hall, stage) and its facade adorned with canned pilasters and ionic capitals. Its history reflects the cultural ambitions of Rochefort, a booming port and military city in the 18th century, as well as the technical and aesthetic evolutions of French theatres until the contemporary era.

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