Teatro dal Verme
The stage where Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Puccini's Le Villi had their world premieres is still putting on shows.
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Opened in 1872 with Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, this horseshoe-shaped opera house on Via San Giovanni sul Muro was once one of Italy's most important opera houses. WWII bombs struck it; the German army then stripped its surviving central cupola of all metal parts. A 23-billion-lire renovation completed in 2001 turned it into a modern concert and dance venue, now home to the resident Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali.
What to look for
- The 1,420-seat Sala Grande — the rebuilt main auditorium, less than half the size of the original 3,000-seat hall from 1872
- The central cupola, which survived Allied bombing only to be stripped bare of its metal by the German occupying army
- The 200-seat Sala Piccola, a smaller performing space that shares the building with the main hall and an exhibition room called the Sala Terrazzo
On Via San Giovanni sul Muro; check Fondazione I Pomeriggi Musicali for the current concert and performance schedule.
Teatro dal Verme 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.
- La ScalaThe 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.
- 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.