Teatro Simoni Fe

Tucked behind Bienno's grandest palace, the Teatro Simoni Fe began life as its stables. The converted stables form a small performance venue in Bienno.

Why it matters

Bienno’s built heritage reflects the Vaso Re canal, its ironworking tradition, defence towers and frescoed palaces. The Teatro Simoni Fe is a cultural reuse of Palazzo Simoni Fe’s former stables.

What to notice

The converted stable includes a stage and dressing rooms. It occupies the service range where the Simoni family once kept its horses and carriages. It faces a modest square known locally as the piazza della dama, enclosed by the palace's rear elevation, in the upper part of a borgo whose streets have barely moved in centuries.

Context and history

The adjoining palace has a fifteenth-century core and was the residence of the Simoni family, whose standing rested on Bienno’s iron trade. Its stables stood behind the residence, facing what is now the piazza della dama. The municipality converted the former stables into a theatre in 2009. The project formed part of the wider revival of the village’s heritage: the ecomuseo of the Vaso Re and the Valley of Hammers was founded only a year earlier, in 2008, and the palace also houses the Pinacoteca Arcivescovo Morandini. Together, these projects adapt Bienno’s historic buildings for cultural use.