Théâtre des Capucins

The plain building with the round-arched windows on the Rue des Capucins is older than it looks, and has had more lives than most. It was built in 1623 as a convent for Capuchin friars, and they stayed until 1795, when the French Revolution arrived and put an end to the monasteries. The garrison took it over: from 1796 to 1868 the friars' church was the army's grain store and bakery.

When the soldiers left with the fortress, the city needed a theatre, and the old church became one. From 1869 to 1964 this was the theatre of Luxembourg City, until the new Grand Théâtre opened on the hill at Limpertsberg. For a while it seemed the old house was finished. Then it was rebuilt inside, and in 1985 it reopened as the Théâtre des Capucins, a room for around 270 people, named in memory of the friars whose church it was. Locals still call it the Alen Theater, the old theatre. Since 2011 it has been run together with the Grand Théâtre as one house with two stages, and it plays in German, French and Luxembourgish.

The little playground in front of it dates from 2013. The bronze centaur by the sculptors Les Lalanne that used to stand there was moved to the garden of the Villa Vauban, where you can still find it.