Tullio Giacconi Theater

The Tullio Giacconi Theater in Chiaravalle, inaugurated in 1854 at the behest of the local bourgeoisie, features a horseshoe-shaped plan and 19th-century decorations. Severely damaged by bombing in 1944, it was renovated in the 1990s, maintaining the original structure and recovering the splendour of the mythological decorations. Today it is a lively cultural centre for the town.

In 1854, the notary Nazzareno Sorini drew up the concession deed for the building of a theatre. This was built in the heart of the city, with the façade facing the main street. Although there is no certainty about the designer, the most accredited hypothesis attributes the design to architect Cesare Boccolino. The plan of the theatre followed the traditional horseshoe shape, with three tiers of boxes and a concave ceiling stuccoed and decorated in 19th-century eclectic style. The ceiling decorations depicted mythological scenes and ornaments that contrasted with the elegant gilded friezes on the boxes. The ceiling was supported by tie rods anchored to the roof structure, and originally the central crystal chandelier could disappear into the ceiling thanks to an up-and-down mechanism, the winch of which can still be seen in the attic along with the original latticework. However, much of what we see today is not the original. In 1944, during the Second World War, the theatre was severely damaged by Allied bombing, rendering it unusable. The allies also removed the ornate doors of the boxes, the floor boards and the entrance façade, erasing almost all traces of the original 19th-century building. In 1950, renovations transformed the theatre into a multifunctional building, housing premises for AVIS, municipal offices and a cinema. Fortunately, after more than forty years, the decision was taken in 1996 to restore the building to its former glory. Thanks to skilful restoration work, the Tullio Giacconi Theatre finally reopened its doors on 25 October 1997, looking as good as, if not better than, the day of its inauguration. Today, the suggestive setting of Tullio Giacconi Theatre hosts concerts, dramas, plays, presentations and performances, animating the artistic and cultural life of the city in all its facets. Its fascinating and troubled history reflects the Chiaravalle community's desire to have its own stage, a desire born of the economic growth favoured by the presence of the Cistercian Abbey and the Tobacco Factory. The renovation in the 1990s preserved the theatre's original features, such as the horseshoe layout and the three tiers of boxes for a total of fifty seats. The work on the vault decorations, recalling dense ornaments and seductive mythological scenes such as “Leda and the Swan”, “Danae”, “Centaur and Nymph” and “Selene and Sleeping Endymion”, and the central scene of the cochlear depicting “Two female characters in evening dress”, also fully achieved the goal of restoring the theatre to its original splendour.