Teatro Comunale Carlo Goldoni

Corinaldo's Teatro Carlo Goldoni was built between 1861 and 1869 to replace an earlier eighteenth-century playhouse. Designed by Alessandro Pasqui with engineers Francesco Fellini and Achille Buffoni, it preserves a distinctive feature of nineteenth-century theatre architecture: a movable stalls floor that could be raised to stage level.

Why it matters

The Goldoni reflects Corinaldo's civic ambition in the years after Italian unification. It replaced the Teatro del Sole nascente, built between 1736 and 1752 to a design by Angelo Birza of Fabriano. The new theatre was designed in 1861–1869 by Florentine architect Alessandro Pasqui, with engineers Francesco Fellini and Achille Buffoni. Restoration completed in 2006 returned the building to cultural use.

What to notice

The theatre has a U-shaped hall with three tiers of boxes. Its stalls floor was designed by Corinaldo engineer Crescentino Quagliani to move: it could be lowered for performances or raised to stage level to form a larger space for dances and gatherings. The restoration completed in 2006 removed the original machinery and stage equipment, leaving the hall's geometry as the clearest evidence of its former transformation.

Context and history

The Teatro del Sole nascente served Corinaldo for more than a century before the town replaced it with a larger municipal theatre. The movable floor gave the nineteenth-century building a dual role as a performance hall and ballroom. The Goldoni now serves as a cultural venue for theatre and music, continuing the civic purpose for which it was built.