One of Lisbon’s most famous cinemas, it was built in the late 1940s, commissioned by the Anglo-Portuguese Film Society, designed by architect Fernando Silva and inaugurated in 1950. Its innovative and bold design won it the City Architecture Award after a unanimous vote that same year. Considered a ‘modern building’, it moved away from the Nationalist architectural style which was in full-force at the time, adopting new construction methods, namely the use of concrete, which enabled new structural and decorative features to be developed.

In the early 1980s, was divided into three smaller film theatres, holding a seating capacity of 1354 seats. In 2000, the building became property of Lisbon City Council and after carrying out an intervention on its façade and interior renovations, it was reopened in November 2001. Since then, it has been open to the public, offering regular film screenings (commercial and previews), as well as hosting high-profile festivals and other performing arts events, such as dance, theatre and music performances. This building is currently in the process of being listed as a building of public interest.