Ankara Opera House |
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Ankara Opera House (Turkish: Opera Sahnesi) of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet is the largest of the three venues for opera and ballet in Ankara, Turkey, the other two being Leyla Gencer Sahnesi in Ostim and Operet Sahnesi in Sıhhiye. The building was originally designed by the Turkish architect Şevki Balmumcu as an exhibition center, who came first in an international competition for the project in 1933. It was later converted into an opera house by the German architect Paul Bonatz, and started serving this function on April 2, 1948. The same building also serves as a theatre venue for the Turkish State Theatres under the name Büyük Tiyatro. The construction of a new main opera house for Ankara, in the vicinity of the original and of considerably larger capacity, is underway since 2005. |