VISIT THE TEATRO MASSIMO IN PALERMO

A visit to the Teatro Massimo in Palermo is an unmissable opportunity for those staying at Arché Design Rooms & Suites.

Our elegant structure with design suites is just a 10-minute walk from Piazza Verdi which houses what is considered the largest theater in Italy and the third in Europe, easily reachable by walking through the pedestrian area of Via Principe di Belmonte and Corso Ruggero Settimo, two of the main shopping areas of Palermo.

Teatro Massimo, an opera house in neoclassical-eclectic style, the result of the ingenuity of Ernesto Basile, was built on the remains of a church and a monastery, demolished to make room for the imposing building that takes the constructionof ancient Roman and Greek religious and civil structures such as baths, basilicas and temples . The imposing columns with Corinthian capitals, the huge hemispherical dome and the sculptures of two bronze lions, accompanied by the allegories of Tragedy and Opera, on either side of the staircase overlooking the pronaos, give solemnity to the building.

To welcome the public, on the frieze of the main façade, is carved the epigraph that reads: "Art renews peoples and reveals their life. Vain of the scenes is the delight where it does not aim to prepare the future." The motto emphasizes the importance attached to culture and art in the political and civic education of every society. A commitment that the Teatro Massimo has renewed by recently becoming a supporter of various initiatives in favor of the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and lighting up the columns above the staircase every year with the colors of the pride flag.

But the external beauty of the building is only a taste of the wonder and mysteries that are revealed inside, in which Vittorio Ducrot's Art Nouveau style dominates. The frescoed "petal" ceiling of the Great Hall, representing the Triumph of Music, is composed of movable wooden panels to allow the outflow of hot air from the rooms, maintaining its coolness, while, placing oneself in the center of the Pompeian Hall, it is possible to experience a particular echo effect that makes it incomprehensible, for those outside this magic circle, hearing the voices of those inside that are amplified .

For those who are fascinated by the paranormal, like any self-respecting ancient theater goer, the Massimo in Palermo also seems to be the home of a ghost, that of the last Mother Superior of the convent of San Giuliano who was destroyed to make room for the construction of the building.