LA FENICE THEATER

If you are a fan of opera or theater in general, you cannot fail to include La Fenice Theater in your itinerary for visiting Venice in 3 days (or a weekend or whatever your length of stay is).

It is located in the sestiere of San Marco and is the city's main opera house.

It can be visited by the public and entering and discovering all its secrets will undoubtedly be an unforgettable experience!

HISTORY OF LA FENICE THEATER

Its history has always been linked to a fire yes from the beginning. In fact, the decision of its construction followed the fire of the San Benedetto Theater, which occurred in 1773.

At that time this theater was considered one of the most beautiful in Venice. To replace its loss it was planned to build another one from scratch and even more beautiful than the previous one. As many as 29 projects participated in the call for bids, among which the one by the famous architect of the time Giannantonio Selva was chosen. Selva presented the jury with a wooden model of what would have been the theater that is still preserved today.

After no small amount of controversy, due to its location, rationalistic and neoclassical structure, and rising expenses, the grand La Fenice Theater was inaugurated on December 13, 1836, with I Giuochi di Agrigento by Giovanni Paisiello, to a libretto by Pepoli.

During the 19th century it was the site of numerous first performances by such composers as Gioacchino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi.

Illustrious spectators at La Fenice were, in 1859, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and his wife Sissi (they occupied the grand royal box) and Victor Emmanuel III and Elena of Montenegro in 1895.

Meanwhile, the theater had become one of the most highly regarded in Europe.

In 1836 it burned down almost completely in a fire. In fact, only part of the entrance and the perimeter walls were saved. It was rebuilt immediately and within a year reopened,

During the 1800s after Milan's La Scala theater, La Fenice hosted the largest number of premieres of Giuseppe Verdi, and throughout the 1900s many other important operas were performed, including by foreign composers of the caliber of Stravinsky and Prokofiev.

On January 29, 1996, another arson fire devastated the theater, which was fortunately closed for restoration. It took a night to tame the flames.

It was decided to rebuild it immediately exactly where it was and as it was before. The work took a long time, but finally between December 14 and 21, 2003, the inauguration week of the theater was held with a concert conducted by maestro Riccardo Muti.

La Fenice Theater is certainly among the things to see in Venice. Having concluded your visit then you can devote yourself to the other attractions nearby. It is in fact located not far from St. Mark's Square, the Campanile, La Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Clock Tower.