Teatro Amintore Galli

The design is by Luigi Poletti, architect of the Papal States, who conceived it as a temple of music inspired by the solemnity of Roman temples. It was inaugurated on 16 August 1857 with Giuseppe Verdi's Aroldo. With four tiers of boxes, it was one of the largest theatres in Italy; since 1947 it has borne the name of composer Amintore Galli.

Second World War bombs destroyed almost the entire auditorium and stage; only the foyer survived. For more than seventy years the theatre remained a wound in the heart of the city.

The reconstruction, faithful to the original drawings but with the most modern technologies, was completed in 2018: on 28 October the curtain rose again with Cecilia Bartoli. In 2015 the piano played by Verdi at the 1857 inauguration also returned to the foyer.

Beneath the stalls there is a small multimedia archaeological museum with finds discovered during the works. The guided tours, organised by the Musei Comunali, take you into the foyer, the stalls and the upper foyer; the calendar changes each month according to the performances.