The previously “Royal” Theatre of Saint Charles in Naples – Teatro San Carlo – is the oldest Opera House in the world. If you love opera, ballet or if you want just to experience another beautiful piece of Italian architecture, you can’t miss it!
Teatro San Carlo: the cradle of Italian Opera
If Florence is the cradle of Renaissance, while Teatro alla Scala in Milan and Teatro La Fenice in Venice are among the most famous in the world, Naples Teatro San Carlo has a definitely important record: it is the oldest still active opera house of the whole world.
If you love the Opera you have to see the San Carlo…
A good amount of visitors get to Italy because they love Opera. If you are one of them, Teatro San Carlo is a must visit, because it is simply where the magic started.
The theatre was built in 1737 Under Carlo VII (the Bourbon King of Naples Charles VII, also Charles III of Spain, 1716 – 1788). Naples was a world class city for music already, as the Scarlattis (Alessandro, Alessandro’s brother Francesco, and his son Domenico) had started a sort of “school of Opera” in Naples.
The greatest musicians worked at the San Carlo: Christoph Willibald Gluck, Johann Christian Bach, for example. In 1816 a fire destroyed the theatre, which was then re – inaugurated in 1817.
Giuseppe Verdi gave some suggestions about the design of the theatre.
The San Carlo has been completely restored between 2008 and 2009: now it is a beautiful, easily accessible theatre in Naples city center, not far from Castel Nuovo or the Molosiglio Gardens, and it is connected to the Royal Palace.
The Opera season runs between January and May, the Ballet season runs between April and June: if you love l’Opera, you must be there!