The Faculty of Geography and History opposes the demolition of the Metropol Cinema

  • Press Office
  • April 29th, 2021
 
Faculty of Geography and History
Faculty of Geography and History

The Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Valencia opposes the demolition of the Metropol Cinema and requests that competent authorities adopt any measure to prevent its disappearance. This was the agreement reached during the Centre Board meeting.

On May 20 of 2020, members of the Departments of Art, Modern and Contemporary History, as well as the Democratic History and Memory Club of the University of Valencia, drew up an advisory report on the historical, artistic and democratic memory value of the former Metropol Cinema in Valencia. In the report they stated the importance of preserving the Metropol Cinema building, at least the full façade, given its historical, artistic and historical memory value due to the obvious relationship between the building and the republican capital of Valencia during the Civil War, as well as it being a place of democratic memory.

In the conclusions they pointed out that "this is the first building by architect Javier Goerlich in which he introduces the rationalist language, which he will develop in a more mature way in later buildings in the city, making it a key work for understanding the evolution of his style". The report adds that the rationalist forms of the building are linked to the modernist image used by the Second Spanish Republic, as well as with the figure who promoted it, Vicente Carceller (editor of the satirical magazine La Traca and entertainment businessman), who was arrested on June 1939 and executed by firing squad twelve months later for his political ideas.

Among the reasons stated in the report for preserving the building, they point out that there are no other pre-Civil War cinemas standing in the city of Valencia, and that its façade is a symbol of that time and a singular and unique element due to its modern look. This avant-garde image was exceptional among the buildings that covered this area of the Valencian Eixample and a unique part of the city as a whole. Moreover, it is the only surviving remnant of the historic cinemas of the city of Valencia, the model of which evoke a theatre integrated into a residential building.