Toulouse. It was 105 years ago: a terrible fire ravaged the Théâtre du Capitole
By Thibaut Calatayud
Published on
Imagine. It is 2:15 p.m., you are enjoying the sun on the Place du Capitole. And all of a sudden, thick smoke emanated from the Capitol Theater, before giving way to huge flames. This scene, in the heart of Toulouse, our ancestors lived it. It was August 10, 1917.
A terrible fire
It was therefore in the middle of the afternoon that the luxurious theater caught fire. In less than two hoursthe moldings, sculptures, seats and everything that made up the famous room in downtown Toulouse went up in smoke.
The firefighters then put in place an important device to try to limit the damage. And for good reason, the flames threatened the Hall of the Illustrious, located on the other side of a (fortunately) very thick wall. “The theater library, the artists’ dressing rooms, the management premises and the concierge’s dressing room have not been obtained”, indicates The Dispatch the day after the fire, the cause of which is not known.
For the human toll, the daily announces two injured firefighters “The first received a pile of burnt bricks on his reins and shoulders, the second was injured in the legs when he fell from the roof of the Dupuy house onto the floor of the floor below”.
Fire and war almost killed this theater
This terrible firethe damage was caused around 1.5 million old francs, or nearly 3.5 million euros) will mark a setback for this theatre. “The fire and the war definitely changed mentalities: the spirit of the troupe declined and the tradition of the “Three Beginnings” (the singers had to prove themselves in three different roles at the start of the season, editor’s note) gets lost,” explains the Théâtre du Capitole on its website.
It will be necessary to wait until 1923 to see the place reborn from its ashes thanks to the work of Paul Pujol. “Taking into account technical developments, it is nevertheless inspired by a project conceived thirty years earlier. The result turns out to be a bit outdated,” admits the Théâtre du Capitole today.
To review an Italian-style room, a real “opera house”, it will be necessary to wait until 1996 and operations carried out under the leadership of Toulouse architects Yvonnick Corlouër and François Linarès, under the direction of the architect of the buildings civilians and national palaces Jean-Loup Robert, and in team with Richard Peduzzi, decorator scenographer, then director of the Villa Medici. These works have enabled the famous hall to regain its former glory.
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