page_title: Circus
section_title: Buildings
hierarchical_section_title: Circus / Buildings
caption_attribution_description: Paper Postcard Old Kharkov Wood Circus Открытое письмо (почтовая открытка) c видом проекта деревянного цирка 1892 года братьев Чинизелли на Михайловской площади (сейчас площадь Руднева) в Харькове. Репринт фирмы "Парамоновъ и сын". Надпись про 140-летие добавлена в 2000-х годах. Оригинал хранится в Государственном архиве Харьковской области (ГАХО), фонд 4, опись 118, единица хранения 39
context_page_description: A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, unicyclists, as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768 Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'Penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River. In 1770 he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances developed significantly over the next fifty years, with large-scale theatrical battle reenactments becoming a significant feature.
context_section_description: In some towns, there are circus buildings where regular performances are held. The best known are:
  Blackpool Tower Circus
  Budapest Circus
  Circus Krone Building in Munich
  Cirque d'hiver, Paris
  Cirque Jules Verne in Amiens
  Hippodrome Circus, Great Yarmouth
  La Tohu in Montreal
  Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Moscow
  Shanghai Circus World in Shanghai
  Turkmen State Circus in Ashgabat
  Riga Circus in Riga
  Belarus State Circus in Minsk
  "Globus" Circus in Bucharest
  In other countries, purpose-built circus buildings still exist which are no longer used as circuses, or are used for circus only occasionally among a wider programme of events; for example, the Cirkusbygningen (The Circus Building) in Copenhagen, Denmark, Cirkus in Stockholm, Sweden, or Carré Theatre in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
caption: Paper postcard of the Old Kharkov Wood Circus
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