Teatro Marrucino

Chieti's Teatro Marrucino opened in 1818 as the Real Teatro San Ferdinando and took its present name in 1861. Its long performance history includes Rossini, Puccini and the first Abruzzese staging of Gabriele D'Annunzio's La figlia di Iorio.

Why it matters

The theatre expresses Chieti's civic ambitions in the nineteenth century. Eugenio Michitelli designed the building, constructed between 1813 and 1817 beside the former church of Sant'Ignazio. Its name honours the Marrucini, the ancient people whose city was Teate.

What to notice

The auditorium reflects successive alterations. In the 1870s, Luigi Daretti designed a fifth tier of boxes, the loggione, and its independent staircase. Giovanni Ponticelli's 1875 curtain depicts the triumph of Asinio Pollione. A 2021 restoration renewed the interior finishes.

Context and history

The theatre was inaugurated on 11 January 1818 with a ball for Ferdinando I; Rossini's La Cenerentola followed days later. In 1901 Antonino Palminteri conducted Puccini's Tosca, and in 1904 the theatre presented the first Abruzzese production of D'Annunzio's La figlia di Iorio. After closing in the 1950s, it reopened in 1972 with the orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. It was recognised as Teatro Lirico d'Abruzzo in 2001 and as a Teatro di Tradizione in 2003.