The Teatro della Pergola, on the street of the same name in Florence, is considered one of the oldest theatres in Italy. Ferdinando Tacca built it in 1656 under Cardinal Giovan Carlo de' Medici; it opened with Jacopo Melani's Il podestà di Colognole. It is regarded as the first major theatre with superposed tiers of boxes rather than semicircular stepped seating in the ancient manner. At first a court theatre of the Grand Dukes, it has been open to a paying public since 1718. Verdi's Macbeth (1847) and Donizetti's Parisina had their premieres here, and in 1834 the stage machinist Antonio Meucci installed a mechanical acoustic telephone. Its present appearance dates largely from work completed in 1857. Today the Pergola is one of Italy's national theatres and presents mainly drama.
The Teatro La Pergola in Florence, opened in 1656, is one of the oldest preserved theatre buildings in the world — Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor was premiered here in 1835 and Verdi's Macbeth in 1847.
At a glance
- Type
- Theatre
- Location
- Florence, Italy
More venues in Florence
- Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino · Opera house, Florence
More venues in Italy
- Arena di Verona · Opera house, Verona
- Artisti in Piazza · Multi-genre theatre, Pennabilli
- Gran Teatro all'Aperto Giacomo Puccini · Opera house, Torre del Lago
- Piccolo Teatro di Milano · Theatre, Milan
- Sferisterio di Macerata · Opera house, Macerata
- Teatro Alighieri · Opera house, Ravenna
- Teatro alla Scala · Opera house, Milan
- Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli · Opera house, Cremona
- Teatro Carlo Felice · Opera house, Genua