Fodor's Expert Review Teatro Peón Contreras

This 1908 Italianate theater was built along the same lines as grand turn-of-the-20th-century European theaters and opera houses. It is also representative of the final years of the gilded age known in Mexico as the Porfiriato, the 35-year-long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz (the Mexican Revolution began in 1910). Its marble staircase, dome, and frescoes were restored in the early 1980s. It is the home of the excellent Yucatán Symphony Orchestra and tickets to performances are often less than $10 US. In addition to being a performing arts venue, it houses a branch of the tourist information office and a popular café-bar that spills out onto the street facing Parque de la Madre.