he Sabará Opera House, its original name, was built with the enthusiastic cooperation of the people. Perfectly aligned with the houses on either side, it stands out on account of having two storeys instead of one.
It is in appearance typical of Portuguese colonial design. The main doors came from the town jail. The original façade probably had three first-floor windows, set over the ground-floor doors. It now has five slender spans, two of which interrupt the upper part of the pilasters which adorn the surface. The bases of these pilasters survive on either side of the main door. Stage and stalls display similar dimensions; this was common in theatres in the Italian baroque tradition. The floor of the stalls slopes toward the stage - the result of some past interference. On being turned into a cinema the building went into decline, but was completely restored in 1970 under the direction of architect Luciano Amédé Péret. Even the old proscenium curtain, painted by German artist Georges Grimm around 1884, was saved, only to be totally lost in 1982.