Sala Unirii – Cinema Victoria (Sala Unirii – Cinema Victoria) is a large cultural venue on Union Square in central Iași, built in the early 1960s as Cinema Victoria. Originally one of the city’s principal cinemas, it is now operated by the Iași National Athenaeum as a venue for films, theater, concerts, and other cultural events.
Construction began around 1958 and was completed in 1963 as part of the extensive redevelopment of the Union Square area during the communist period. Cinema Victoria was designed as a large modern movie theater with more than 900 seats, while its broad horizontal façade reflected the new civic architecture introduced around the square during the same period.
After decades within Romania’s state cinema network, Cinema Victoria was transferred to the Municipality of Iași in 2017 together with the former Republica and Dacia cinemas. The municipality placed the venues under the administration of the Iași National Athenaeum, opening the way for Victoria to be adapted for a broader range of cultural uses.
The auditorium was extensively renovated in 2019, receiving a new stage, seating, and technical facilities for live performances as well as film screenings. It reopened on December 6 with around 850 seats under the name Sala Unirii, while the historic Cinema Victoria name remained in use alongside it. The venue has since been used for cinema, theater, concerts, festivals, conferences, and other events organized by the National Athenaeum and visiting cultural institutions.
