TheNaum Theatre, named after its owners Michel Naum and Joseph Naum ofLevantine Catholic background,[2] was atheatre andopera house onİstiklal Avenue in theBeyoğlu (formerly Pera) district ofIstanbul,Turkey. It was opened in 1844 and remained active until the building was severely damaged by the Fire of Pera in 1870.[2][3] The ruined theatre building was purchased byOttoman Greek bankerHristaki Zoğrafos Efendi, who built the present-dayÇiçek Pasajı on its land plot in 1876.[3]
The Naum Theatre was originally built in 1839 as theBosco Theatre byItalianillusionistBartolomeo Bosco, on a plot of land on İstiklal Avenue owned by the Naum family,.[2] The original building was wooden and inOttoman style.[2] After Bosco left the city, ownership of the building passed to Michel and Joseph Naum, who, upon completing the renovation works, reopened it as theThéatre de Péra in 1844.[2] The first play to be performed here was the operaNorma byVincenzo Bellini.[2]
After the original wooden building suffered fire damage in 1846, a new theatre was constructed. It opened on 4 November 1848 withMacbeth byGiuseppe Verdi. In 1849 it was renamed theThéatre Italien Naum.[2] The theatre was frequently visited by SultansAbdülaziz andAbdülhamid II, and hostedGiuseppe Verdi's operaIl Trovatore before the opera houses of Paris.[3] The majority of the operas that were performed at the Naum Theatre were composed by Vincenzo Bellini,Gaetano Donizetti andGioachino Rossini.[2] In a letter to his mother,Gustave Flaubert wrote that he watched an opera by Donizetti at the Naum Theatre the day after his arrival in Istanbul (then Constantinople).[2]
Michel and Joseph Naum held the sole right to stage many European plays and operas in Istanbul, and brought many foreigntroupes to the city.[2] They also printed the firstOttoman Turkish translations of many operas as booklets.[2] Apart from the usual evening performances, they also organised daytime versions for audiences coming from the Asian side of theBosphorus.[2]
After the Fire of Pera on 5 June 1870, the ruined theatre was purchased byOttoman Greek bankerHristaki Zoğrafos Efendi, and Ottoman Greek architect Kleanthis Zannos designed the currentÇiçek Pasajı building, which was constructed in 1876 on the same site.[3]
