The Green Theater is an open-air theater that was built on the slopes of the Dnieper in 1949 and is located in Askoldova Mogila Park, not far from Mariinsky Park. An element of the Green Theater is one of the two casemate walls of the former military building of the 19th century of the New Pechersk Fortress. The first walls of the Green Theater appeared in the mid-19th century. Then it was decided to strengthen the fortifications around the Pechersk fortress, closing the ravine with two retaining walls that would cover the water pump on the banks of the Dnieper. Both walls have internal galleries (including underground ones), rifle chambers and a pair of artillery loopholes.
The upper semicircular retaining wall was built in 1853-1864. The lower straight retaining wall was built a little later, in 1856 – a two-tier vaulted gallery with gun loopholes. It was supposed to close the approaches to the Chain Bridge (blown up in June 1920 by retreating Polish troops; 3 bridge supports have survived to this day, which can only be seen when the water level in the Dnieper drops) and protect the Podolsk embankment werk (fortification), better known as the Podolsk gates. An underground passage passed through both retaining walls, connecting the workshops on Arsenalnaya and the water pumping station on the banks of the Dnieper. Cast iron water pipes were laid throughout the underground.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the fortress began to be used as a warehouse, and the verk as a water pumping station. Later the tower was demolished and a cinema was built between the walls. The cinema was built after World War II in 1949. The city center was in ruins, so the architect Alexander Vlasov proposed building an entertainment center on the slopes of the Dnieper. There was a park with carousels and an amphitheater with 4,000 seats. With the opening of the October Palace and Gidropark the Green Theater lost popularity.
In the early 1980s, the Green Theater was reconstructed: the drain wells were streamlined, the upper wall was strengthened, granite retaining walls were built, as well as two-tier balconies for 900 seats with loggias. Since 2011, the Green Theater housed a summer nightclub of the same name, but in September 2014, by a court decision, the complex was returned to the ownership of the community due to failure to comply with the terms of the lease and the club was closed.