The CCB, Cultural Centre of Belém, was built on the occasion of Portugal’s presidency of the Council of the European Communities and was inaugurated in 1993. Located in Lisbon, close to the Marine Museum, it also stages major exhibitions, but its prime focus is on all forms of music, dance and theatre. It has played host to Sviatoslav Richter, Keith Jarrett and Philip Glass, the diva Cecilia Bartoli, Pina Bausch, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Wooster Group, Milan’s Piccolo Teatro and Pippo Delbono, Johan Le Guillerm’s Cirque Ici and Peter Brook, to name just a few.

The CCB has three auditoriums for performances: one with 1,460 seats, one with 340 seats and an “experimental” theatre which can hold 85 spectators. On top of this there are three rehearsal rooms and open spaces like the Museum Square or Olive Garden where open-air events are held. There are also offices for production purposes and an artists’ café.
Thanks to its size and flexibility, the CCB’s programme offers an eclectic mix of theatre for young audiences, concerts and classic and experimental productions. However its activities are clearly oriented towards research in contemporary creation.

The Cultural Centre of Belém is subsidised by the Ministry of Culture from Portugal