RYMAN AUDITORIUM

The Ryman Auditorium was built in 1892 by a boat captain, Thomas Ryman (1843-1904), under the name of Union Gospel Tabernacle. The auditorium was then designed to receive the then influential preacher, Samuel Porter Jones (1847-1906). The tabernacle was renamed Ryman Auditorium after the death of Ryman.

This circular room with a capacity of 2 362 places became famous throughout America thanks to the Grand Ole Opry radio show (originally AGRA Barn Dance) broadcast on radio AGRA radio from 1925, but broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium from 1943 only. The registration was transferred in 1974 to a studio built for this purpose, Grand Ole Opry House, located approximately 11 miles east of downtown downtown. Broadcast every Saturday night on radio and television, the success of this program that recognition the country is still real. Falling into désuétude for 20 years, the Ryman Auditorium rediscovered its doors in 1994 as a visiting place and concert hall with exceptional programming. It is in memory of what was a place of worship that the auditorium is nicknamed Mother Church of Country Music. Since 1971, he has been classified in the National Register of Historic Sites and since 2001 as National Historic Landmark.