Teatro Goldoni

• via S. Maria 15
• 055 2335518

Built in the early nineteenth century in the Oltrarno area, between Via Romana and Via dei Serragli, and inaugurated in 1817 with a comedy by Carlo Goldoni Il burbero benefico, this theatre was born "modern" for its "polyvalence": the small hall with 4 rows of overlapping stages was flanked by a contiguous open-air Arena (later covered at the end of the nineteenth century and transformed into a cinema in 1935) both capable of accommodating 1500 spectators. The Theatre, due to its proximity to Palazzo Pitti, became one of the privileged places of the Grand Duke's court, so much so that the Grand Duke had a private staircase to reach the central stage directly. The disappearance of the Lorraine court, the advent of the Kingdom of Italy, and the events linked to the capital Florence led to the decay of the Theatre which, however, in 1875, completely renovated and with the gas lighting system, was inaugurated a second time with "L'ltaliana in Algeri" by Rossini. In the post-war period the Goldoni was used as a theatre for the film "I Vitelloni" by Fellini and was the seat of Gassmann's "Bottega". After a new restoration work it was reopened in 1998 with a famous staging of Monteverdi's Orfeo di Monteverdi directed by Luca Ronconi and for a decade used as a theatrical space dedicated to Baroque dance and melodrama. Inactive for some years, it will be reopened in June 2020 to host Jacopo Peri's Euridice at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, directed by Davide Garattini Raimondi (13, 15 and 18 June 2020).