The Secrets of Theater Architecture

The theater is located in Holy Spirit Square, in the northern part of the Old Town.

The theater is a three-story rectangular building. Its dimensions are approximately 65 meters long and 36 meters wide. The theater is kept in an eclectic style, combining elements referring to the Renaissance, Classicism, and Art Nouveau.

The structure of the building has three parts, which differ in the decoration of the side facades and the elements located on the flat, 18-meter-high roof. The first part of the theater houses -the vestibule, the second - the auditorium, and the third - the stage and its backroom

The roof above the auditorium is crowned with a monumental dome with a diameter of about 20 meters. Its pointed end, reaching 30.5 meters, is the highest point of the building.

A three-winged dark wood door leads to the interior of the theater. The door is covered with a forged, Art Nouveau, canopy with floral motifs. Above, the first floor of the façade is decorated with a row of three high, arcaded windows with decorative columns between them. 

Above them, on the stone decorating the cornice, there is an inscription: "Krakow for the National Arts".

Project of the vestibule of the Teatr im. Juliusz Słowacki was modelled after the Vienna Opera Hall, which Zawiejski visited during his studies. It is maintained in the Classicist style, with elements of Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau ornamentation.

In the second part of the vestibule, there are elegant stairs branching in two directions and leading to the first floor.

As you climb them, you pass two pillars supported in the upper parts by caryatids, i.e., sculptures of men and women, holding the ceiling with bent hands placed behind the head.

The foyer is on the first floor of the theater. This room was designed following the assumptions of nineteenth-century theater architecture as a redoubt room, i.e., used for masked balls and other social meetings.

The bright walls of the foyer are decorated with delicate golden ornaments and flower-shaped wall lamps. There is a ceiling with a crystal chandelier, which was made by Antoni Tuch in the Pompeian style.

The theater auditorium has 540 seats. It is about 20 meters long and almost 19 meters wide. The first balcony is about 3.5 meters high, and the second one is more than 6 meters high. 

Above them, very high up, there is a swallow - that is, the cheapest seats for viewers located near the ceiling.

The auditorium is kept in the Italian style. The outer parts of the one-story boxes, pillars and balconies are decorated with golden ornaments.  

The balconies of the first and second floors are also decorated with ornaments in the shape of laurel wreaths. The upper parts of the boxes are covered with red velvet curtains.

The stage from the audience is surrounded by a wide, gilded frame. In its upper, central part, the coat of arms of Krakow is placed, followed by a fresco imitating a decorative curtain.