Ouro Preto Municipal Theater TV Globo/ Reproduction The Municipal Theater of Ouro Preto, in the Central Region of Minas Gerais, was listed by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan) and became Brazilian Cultural Heritage. The decision was taken during the 113th meeting of the Iphan Advisory Board, on Tuesday afternoon (9). The councilors, unanimously, approved the theater's inscription in the Historical and Fine Arts Books, recognizing its historical, architectural, artistic and symbolic values. With almost two and a half centuries of existence, the space, formerly the Vila Rica Opera House, is the oldest theater in continuous activity in Latin America. The austere facade, with a triangular gable, has features of the neoclassical style that differ from the exuberant ornamentation of Minas Gerais churches. At the top, the carved lyre is the symbol of the structure built to be the Opera House. Ouro Preto Municipal Theater TV Globo/ Reproduction The space, opened in 1770, is located in the Architectural and Urban Complex of Ouro Preto, listed by Iphan since 1938. "This title will open a door so that we can seek public resources in a different way to preserve not only the physical space, but the memory and importance of this theater within the national context", said the director of the Ouro Preto Municipal Theater, Roberto Sussuca. For historian and researcher Rosana Orsini, protecting the theater means preserving a pioneering past. It was there that the curtains opened, in the old Vila Rica, for women to take the stage for the first time, at a time when men also played female roles. "It was a place that had everyone together, everyone in a small space and perhaps the only place in the colony, where everyone could really coexist, keeping the necessary distances, but within the same space", he explained. Ouro Preto Municipal Theater TV Globo/ Reproduction The writer, playwright and professor at the Federal University of Ouro Preto (Ufop) Guiomar de Grammont, who has had texts performed on the Municipal Theater stage, also celebrated the recognition. "This Opera House needs to continue to be our home, and this title is as if it were a celebration of that. Pointing out that it is our home is a precious lyre, which will continue to be played over time. Plays will continue to be staged here, perhaps with as much vitality as in the 19th century, when there were, in 1811, for example, 45 performances in a single year." Most viewed videos on g1 Minas: