The city’s literary academy, devoted to St. Illuminato, built its first wooden theater in 1666, which was demolished after one hundred years of activity. In 1783, following a petition presented by the people to the Sacred Consulta of Rome, the Academics decided to rebuild it in masonry. Upon completion of the works (which cost 885 scudi), it was reopened to the public in 1796 with a prose show interspersed with dances. In 1861, the theater was restored and adorned with stuccoes and gildings by the painter Giuseppe Bianchi from Florence, who also created the curtain. The Perugian Vincenzo Baldini painted the sets. It reopened to the public in 1862 with Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Borgia” and Verdi’s “La Traviata.” Restored several times since then, it is today an elegant and resonant theater, with four tiers of boxes (17 per tier) and a gallery, created in 1887 along with the ceiling painting of the hall, the work of the Perugian Ulisse Ribustini.
Information on Teatro degli Illuminati
Via dei Fucci,
06012 Città di Castello (Perugia)
075 8522920
teatro@cdcnet.net
https://www.cdcnet.net
Source: MIBACT
