Palermo. Teatro Massimo

At the end of the 19th century, the great cities of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies felt the need of a state building worthy of the northern metropolises, to say nothing of the glorious and magnificent Teatro San Carlo in Naples. To make up for this delay, Palermo had announced a competition in 1864, won by the architect Basile, a master of the Neo-romantic style featuring imposing structures and anticipating Art Nouveau trends. A monumental theatre meant for everyone, with the largest stalls area in Europe at the time, the Teatro Massimo became the city’s lay theatre. Viewed as a wonder of modernity, in the 20th century it rivalled the more famous theatres of Milan and Naples. This volume, printed shortly after the Massimo’s reopening after twenty years of unfitness for use, celebrated its unchanged and original ability to bewitch spectators, as well as the astounding and stately architectural structure itself.