The Kraków city council decided in 1886 to demolish a former church and monastery to make room for a new theater, and the old church was dismantled in May 1892. Jan Zawiejski was the architect. The theater opened on October 21, 1893, as the Municipal Theatre, and it was named after the poet Juliusz Słowacki in 1909.
The article calls the style Polish Eclectic and says it was modeled after European Baroque and Eclectic theaters, including the Palais Garnier in Paris. It was the first building in Kraków designed for and equipped with electric light. The interior includes a curtain by Henryk Siemiradzki, and the main hall has 540 seats.
The theater operates today as both a theater and an opera house. It lies within the Historic Centre of Kraków, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978.
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