Canolfan Soar facts for kids
Canolfan Soar is a cool community center in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It used to be an old chapel called Zoar Chapel, built a long time ago. Now, it's a busy place with a theatre and lots of other fun things to do.
Contents
Discovering Canolfan Soar's Past
From Old Chapel to Modern Hub
Canolfan Soar is a lively place right in the middle of Merthyr Tydfil. It's a special center where people can speak both Welsh and English. You can find a theatre, a dance studio, and rooms for music practice here. There's also a café, a book shop, and classrooms. It even has spaces for art shows, meetings, and big events.
The main part of Canolfan Soar is Theatr Soar. This is a cozy theatre perfect for plays and performances. It has seats for 200 people. The very first show happened there in February 2011. It took six years of planning and hard work to change the old Zoar Chapel into this amazing center.
The Story of Zoar Chapel
The Zoar Chapel was finished in March 1842. It was a big church for Welsh Congregationalists. Before this chapel, there was an even older building from 1823. The new chapel cost about £2,300 to build.
The chapel was officially recognized as an important old building on August 22, 1975. Before it closed its doors in 2005, Zoar Chapel was one of the biggest chapels in all of Wales. A famous composer named Joseph Parry, who wrote the song Myfanwy, used to lead big singing events called y Gymanfa Ganu there for many years.
What Zoar Chapel Looked Like
Inside and Out
The old Zoar Chapel had two floors and was built in a classic style. The top floor had a special octagonal (eight-sided) balcony. This balcony had wooden seats that went up like steps. The building itself was shaped like a rectangle. It was made from rough stone. The main entrances were on the front, which had five sections that matched each other.
The roof was made of slate and had wide edges. The windows on the top floor were arched. They had strong iron bars that looked like old Gothic designs.
