At the end of the 19th century a group of theatre enthusiasts in Vigo set about the task of building a theatre for the city. Some years later, on the 15^th of July 1900, the Rosalía de Castro Theatre officially opened with the performance of the opera Aida.

Unfortunately an economic slump was to follow and the theatre went bankrupt and had to be sold off as a warehouse. The city made an appeal to Don José García Barbón to reopen the theatre and he accepted. However, on the 8th of February 1910 a fire destroyed the theatre completely. García Barbón’s nieces then followed in their uncle’s footsteps and promised to open an even more splendid theatre.

Building work on the new theatre began in 1913. It was designed by the architect Antonio Palacios and is clearly modernist combined with classical and baroque influences. It can be classified as neo-baroque in style following the modernist trend of the early 20^th century and was inspired by the Palais Garnier Opera in Paris.

The new García Barbón Theatre was officially opened on April 23rd 1927.

In the 1970s, Caixanova Savings Bank (then Caja de Ahorros Municipal de Vigo) initiated negotiations to acquire the theatre building in order to create one of the most important cultural centres in Spain. Restoration work was carried out under the Galician architect Desiderio Pernas. The Caixanova Cultural Centre was opened on March 22nd 1984 and the centre was to be one of the greatest cultural undertakings by a banking institution in Spain.

Cultural events of all kinds are now regularly held in the splendid facilities at the centre - opera, theatre, concerts, cinema, art exhibitions, dance, readings and much more.