Maksim Gorky Samara Academic Drama Theatre is called a "Gingerbread House" by the city people because of its patterned facades. This is the oldest professional theater in the city. Its first season in 1851 was opened by staging N. Gogol's "The Inspector General". This play and a number of the following performances were put on the stage, equipped in the house of the merchant Lebedev.
Samara Academic Drama Theatre got its own building only in 1888. It was designed in pseudo-Russian style by architect Chichagov, who also designed the Moscow Korsh Theatre (a branch of the Moscow Art Theatre). Chichagov’s theatre is more like a boyar palace: it is decorated with typical towers with tetrahedral pyramidal roofs.