Pagoda Palace

The site you are approaching was once home to the Pagoda Palace, a building that served as a lightning rod for the complex personality of the North Beach neighborhood for over a century. Before it became a theater, the land held the original Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, which was lost to the great earthquake and fire of nineteen hundred and six. Rising from those ashes in nineteen hundred and eight, the site began its long theatrical life as the Washington Square Theatre, a venue dedicated to Italian drama and opera that reflected the deep roots of the local immigrant community.