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The first attempts in building permanent movie theaters in Stockholm were made in the end of the 1890s when the cinematograph had been demonstrated at General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm in 1897. Prior to the demonstration, only travellers demonstrated the concept of the movie theater as a form of entertainment.
In 1905, the city had ten movie theaters, and by the end of 1909 the number had risen to 25 permanent movie theaters. The highest number of movie theaters operating at the same time in Stockholm City was 110. In 2009, the number of movie theatres had declined to a dozen or less. The highest number of people visiting movie theaters in Stockholm was 16,8 million, which was noted in 1956.
The city's oldest movie theater, which still operates today is Zita, which opened under the name Vinter-Palatset (the Winter Palace) in 1913. The most beautiful movie theater is the Skandia Theater, which opened in 1923 and was built according to architect Gunnar Asplunds plans. It was described by art experts at the time as a masterpiece, and is one of the few remaining movie theaters in the city that can only show one film at a time. The Skandia Theater was renovated to its original condition in 2001, and is protected under the Cultural Environment Protection Act.