Fort Antoine Theatre

43°43′58.99″N 7°25′40.66″E

A late 19th-century view of Fort Antoine and Monte-Carlo.

The Fort Antoine Theatre is a small amphitheatre on the Avenue de la Quarantaine in the Monaco-Ville ward of Monaco, on the north-eastern point of the Rock of Monaco. The theatre was originally a fortress that was built in early 18th-century during the War of the Spanish Succession. In the 20th-century, after being destroyed during World War II, the fortress was rebuilt as an open-air theatre.

Today, the theatre hosts open air plays and musical concerts in the summer months.^[1] Performances of plays hosted at the theatre include plays written by Jean Cocteau, Jean Giraudoux, and William Shakespeare.^[2] The theatre also occasionally hosts film screenings by the Audiovisual Institute of Monaco.^[3]

History

The structure that would become the theatre was originally constructed as a fortress by Prince Antoine I in 1714 during the War of the Spanish Succession.^[4][5] The original fort was constructed with underground barracks which were equipped with a cistern.^[5] In 1943, after the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, Germany took control of Monaco and used Fort Antoine as a munitions Depot. On September 3, 1944, the fort was blown up by retreating German troops when the United States liberated Monaco.^[6][7]

In 1953, Prince Rainier III had the ruined fortress rebuilt. Since 1970, the fort served as an open air theatre.^[1] The militaristic nature of the fort's architecture has been retained with a bartizan and a pyramid of cannonballs at the centre of the theatre, and the parapet of the fort is emphasized by pittosporum hedges.^[1]

In popular culture

A scene in the 1995 spy film GoldenEye was filmed at the Fort Antoine Theatre.^[8]