La Scala
The gallery gods who booed tenor Roberto Alagna off stage mid-Aida in 2006 still haunt the loggione — the cheapest seats in opera's most feared house.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Milan offline.
Inaugurated in 1778 on the site of a former church, with Salieri's Europa riconosciuta as its curtain-raiser, La Scala has been the make-or-break stage for the world's greatest operatic voices. The tension between performers and the loggionisti — the merciless aficionados packed into the upper gallery — gives every performance an edge you won't find anywhere else.
What to look for
- The loggione: the gallery above the boxes where the loggionisti sit, capable of erupting into rapture or prolonged booing that ends careers
- The Museo Teatrale alla Scala, entered directly from the theatre foyer — costumes, paintings, statues, and drafts spanning opera history
- The season calendar: La Scala opens every year on 7 December, Saint Ambrose's Day, the feast of Milan's patron saint
The theatre museum is accessible from the foyer; if attending a performance, all shows must finish before midnight, so long operas start earlier in the evening.
La Scala is one of 35 sights worth the detour in Milan, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Milan pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Milan
- San Siro — Giuseppe Meazza StadiumTwo rival clubs, one ground: the 75,817-seat arena where Milan's football fault line runs.
- Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano)Construction started in 1386 and the final details were finished in 1965 — the city couldn't stop adding to it.
- Santa Maria delle GrazieThe wall Leonardo painted on was sand-bagged against Allied bombs in 1943 — and held.
- Sforza CastleLeonardo da Vinci painted the ceiling here. Bramante did the walls down the hall.
- Galleria Vittorio Emanuele IIThe direct ancestor of every enclosed shopping mall on earth — and there is still a worn hole in the floor where Milanese spin a heel for luck.
- Pinacoteca di BreraNapoleon's redistribution of Italian art built this collection — Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin was the prize acquisition.