Georgian National Opera Theater

41°42′4.7″N 44°47′46.2″E / 41.701306°N 44.796167°E / 41.701306; 44.796167

The Zacharia Paliashvili Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theater
თბილისის ოპერისა და ბალეტის სახელმწიფო თეატრი
Former names	The Tiflis Imperial Theater
General information
Type	Performance venue
Architectural style	Moorish Revival
Address	25 Shota Rustaveli Ave.
Town or city	Tbilisi, Georgia
Named for	Zacharia Paliashvili (1937)
Groundbreaking	15 April 1847
Completed	1851
Opened	12 April 1851
Inaugurated	9 November 1851
Renovated	1896; 2016
Owner	Municipality of Tbilisi
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Antonio Scudieri (original), Viktor Schröter (rebuild)
Website
opera.ge

The Georgian National Opera and Ballet Theater of Tbilisi (Georgian: თბილისის ოპერისა და ბალეტის სახელმწიფო აკადემიური თეატრი, romanized: tbilisis op'erisa da balet'is sakhelmts'ipo ak'ademiuri teat'ri), formerly known as the Tiflis Imperial Theater, is an opera house situated on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, Georgia. Founded in 1851, Tbilisi Opera is the main opera house of Georgia and one of the oldest such establishments in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

Since 1896, the theater has resided in an exotic neo-Moorish edifice originally constructed by Victor Johann Gottlieb Schröter, a prominent architect of Baltic German origin. Although definitively Oriental in its decorations and style, the building's layout, foyers and the main hall are that of a typical European opera house. Since its foundation, the theater has been damaged by several fires and underwent major rehabilitation works under Soviet and Georgian leadership; the most recent restoration effort concluded in January 2016, having taken six years and costing approximately 40 million U.S. dollars, donated by a Georgian business foundation.^[1]

The opera house is one of the centers of cultural life in Tbilisi and was once home to Zacharia Paliashvili, the Georgian national composer whose name the institution has carried since 1937. The Opera and Ballet Theater also houses the State Ballet of Georgia under the leadership of internationally renowned Georgian ballerina Nina Ananiashvili. In recent years it has hosted opera stars such as Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras,^[2] while also serving as a traditional venue for national celebrations and presidential inaugurations.