colosseum cinema

The building was built in 1845.

The building of the cinema "Coliseum" is one of the oldest monuments of architecture in Yekaterinburg and has an interesting history. Specialists brought it to its modern form: on August 18, 2002 - it was then that the cinema opened after reconstruction.

The building of the Coliseum was built in 1845 on the initiative of Vladimir Glinka, the head of the Ural factories, and the city authorities specifically for the first city theater that opened in Yekaterinburg. It is worth noting that usually theaters were located only in provincial cities, Yekaterinburg was a county one. But thanks to the subordination of the Mining Department, the city had a special status as the capital of the factories of the Ural Range.

Funds for the construction of the theater were provided by the Yekaterinburg merchants: the Ryazanovs and K trading house, as well as the mayor Anika Ryazanov, with the condition that the premises, if necessary, be transferred to a trading establishment.

The builders erected a stone building at the intersection of the Main Avenue with columns and porticos in the style of classicism. The interior decoration of the building was made with columns, grand staircases and an auditorium for 625 people.

The first city theater in Yekaterinburg appeared in 1843 - with the arrival of the troupe of the Kazan entrepreneur Pyotr Sokolov. Initially, the theater occupied premises in a wooden warehouse building at the Alexander Mining Hospital (now the Museum of Fine Arts is located there), but in 1847 it moved to a new stone house. Most of the actors were hired from serfs. Many of them previously studied at the theater school at the Turgenev estate in Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, among them was the famous artist in the Urals Evdokia Ivanova. The performances were a great success. City patrons ransomed the actors to freedom. Evdokia Ivanova became the wife of an entrepreneur and participated in performances until her last days. She died on stage.

In November 1896, one of the first cinema screenings in Yekaterinburg took place at the City Theater. The projection apparatus was installed on the stage, the screen was hung in place of the theatrical curtain. At that time, the cinema did not make a special impression on the audience, but a year later the agents of the cinema of the Lumiere brothers arrived in the city, gave nine sessions and captivated the public.

In 1912, when a new theater building appeared in the city (now the Opera and Ballet Theatre), this house was rented by the tradesman Volkov for a cinema session. Two years later, in 1914, the City Theater was renamed the Coliseum and is still used as a cinema. After the revolution of 1917, the cinema was renamed "October". Here for the first time in Sverdlovsk three-dimensional stereo films were shown. For the installation of a stereo system, the theater was closed and remodeled. Built to last, the building did not want to succumb to the efforts of the builders - the workers spent 8 months only dismantling the theatrical balconies.

In 1999, the building was occupied by the Novoye Kino company, and in 2002 the cinema was reopened to the audience after a large-scale reconstruction. The renovated cinema hall became the first premium class cinema center of the Kinomax chain. The large hall of the cinema center is designed for 280 seats.

The cinema was quite successful until 2012. “By that time, the equipment was outdated, and the Colosseum began to concede in the competition with larger cinemas,” said Sergey Fedyakov, director of the Salyut Cinema EMUP. “The tenants did not invest in technical re-equipment, and the cinema began to rapidly lose viewers, turning, in fact, into a micro-shopping center.” The relationship of the owner - the municipality - with the tenants has changed. "Coliseum" was transferred to EMUP "Cinema "Salyut" for further development.

“The building is an architectural monument, so it is quite difficult to reconstruct it with the latest technologies. We see the updated Colosseum as an atmospheric project that preserves the history of the city theater. Of course, it is quite difficult to talk about profitability - the hall is too small for large-scale events. Nevertheless, from time to time we will hold such events in order to preserve the image of one of the central city cultural sites. From the entertainment segment, we will leave the cinema, which still gives the project some profitability. It will be a universal concert, theater and film venue. The new "Coliseum" will work around the clock, fortunately, it is located at the busiest city crossroads. Here it will be possible to drink coffee and have a snack, the city information center for tourists, exhibition areas will also be opened here, - Sergei Fedyakov said. - We have ambitious plans for the future, but they all depend on the availability of investments. For example, I would like to return the dismantled theatrical balconies and the mezzanine, which was located on the site of today's cinema, to go up, having built a glass roof.

At the end of September, the restoration of the facades of the building will begin. The work will be carried out with the partial closure of the areas of the Coliseum, the cultural object will continue its work.