Cairo Opera House

About Cairo Opera House

Opera house and performing arts centre in Cairo, Egypt

The Cairo Opera House, formally the National Cultural Centre, is Egypt's principal performing-arts venue, standing at the southern end of Gezira Island in the Zamalek district close to downtown Cairo. The present building opened on 10 October 1988, built in an Islamic architectural style with a grant from the Japanese government, replacing the Khedivial Opera House that Khedive Ismail had built in Azbakiya in 1869 to mark the opening of the Suez Canal and which served as a cultural beacon for 102 years until it burned down on 28 October 1971. The original opera house was built in only six months to designs by the Italian architects Avoscani and Rossi. The Khedive had hoped to open it with Verdi's Aida, which he commissioned for the occasion, but the work was not ready in time and Rigoletto was performed instead, before an audience that included Empress Eugenie of France, the Emperor of Austria and the Crown Prince of Prussia. Today the complex has a Main Hall seating about 1,300, a Small Hall seating about 500 and an open-air theatre. It is home to most of Egypt's leading ensembles, including the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Arabic Music Ensemble and the national ballet and religious-chant troupes, with cultural performances almost every night, as well as art galleries and a small museum within the grounds.

Where:

Cairo, Egypt