Theater
Bologna Municipal Theater
Baroque opera house with bell-shaped tiers, built on the ruins of a razed Renaissance palace.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Bologna Municipal Theater traces the ground it stands on back to 1507, when Bolognese crowds tore down the palace of the exiled Bentivoglio family stone by stone, leaving a scar the city still calls Via del Guasto. It follows how, after fire destroyed Bologna's earlier wooden opera house in 1745, architect Antonio Galli Bibiena chose to raise the new theater in stone directly on those ruins, and how a packed house gathered in 1763 to hear its opening performance. Step outside afterward and find Via del Guasto, one turn from the door.
This audio guide was created using AI.