The Sauto Theater opened in 1863 and has remained a focal point of the city ever since. Designed in U-shaped 775-seat configuration it is hailed by musicians to have some of best acoustic resonances in the world. The interior of the Teatro Sauto is almost completely covered with ornate wood-paneling giving the interior a bourgeois appearance. The seating area has three VIP balconies and the floor can be raised internally to convert the auditorium into a ballroom. Considered the most elegant and functional of 19th-century Cuban theatres, bypassing similar structures even in Havana, it has become an architectural symbol of the city, so much so that the great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera once stated, “I recognize Matanzas by the Sauto.” The theatre was declared a National Monument in 1978 by the Cuban government. The original theater curtain is a painting of the Puente de la Concordia over the Yumurí River in Matanzas. The luxurious lobby offers a precious array of Carrara marble statues of Greek goddesses and the main hall ceiling features paintings of the muses.

Amongst artists who have appeared at the Sauto Theater we have Cuba’s most recognized Ballerina Alicia Alonso, the Russian Ballerina Anna Pavlova, the tenor Enrico Caruso, actress Sarah Bernhardt, Cuban musician Ernesto Lecuona, playwright and Nobel Laureate Jacinto Benavente, actress and singer Libertad Lamarque, Spanish dancer Antonio Gades, the composer, guitarist and conductor Leo Brouwer and the charismatic entertainer Snowball.

Even if you are disinterested in the theater or performing arts, the Sauto Theater is an architectural marvel in its own right and well worth your time.