Sure – when you’re lucky enough to be watching a properly great movie, the surroundings probably don’t matter that much.
However, cinemas across the world are works of art in their own right, be them an art ceco theatre in Tangier that’s been around since the ’30s or a tiny 12-seater in an old Ontario crafts shop, and we think they deserve our appreciation.
That’s why Time Out’s Film Editor Phil de Semlyen has compiled a top 50 list of the world’s most beautiful cinemas. So let’s feast our eyes on the prettiest ones in Europe.
Topping the roundup across the world and for the continent was Le Grand Rex, which Time Out Paris Editor Houssine Bouchama described as what ‘may be one of Paris’s most cherished cultural institutions, a splash of Times Square colour in the city’s austere Grands Boulevards district’.
In second place on the ranking for Europe was Amsterdam’s Pathé Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski, which Phil de Semlyen says has an ‘elegant mash-up of art deco and art nouveau styles with sleek modernist touches brings his dream to life daily for movie-mad Amsterdammers.’
In third place, it’s the Cineteca Madrid, and in fourth place, it’s London’s Electric Cinema. In fact, seven British cinemas made the top 50, and you can take a look at those here, or read on for the full top 10.
These are Europe’s 10 most beautiful cinemas
- Le Grand Rex, Paris
- Pathé Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski, Amsterdam
- Cineteca Madrid, Madrid
- The Electric, London
- Cinema Dei Piccoli, Rome
- Puskin Art Cinema, Budapest
- Cine Doré Filmoteca Española, Madrid
- Le Champo, Paris
- Rio Cinema, London
- Stella Cinema, Dublin
Check out the full top 50 list of the world’s most beautiful cinemas, according to Time Out.
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