Teatro La Fenice

Today was the "Flight of the Angel", one of the most famous events for Venice Carnival.  I blogged about it then was here two years ago.  It is interesting to see but what makes it something good to avoid is the massive crowd that gathers in Piazza San Marco.  There are major restrictions on the entrances to the square aiming a crowd control but resulting in people being compressed into small spaces with a lot of pushing and shoving going on.  For anyone even remotely claustrophobic, it is a very unpleasant experience.  Upwards of 20,000 people gather into the square for the event.  We were not about to be four of them!

So, to avoid the crowds, after lunch, we decided to opt for a tour of Teatro La Fenice, Venice's famous opera house.  For seniors, the entry fee was only 8 Euros and that included the audio-guide!  There was a lot of detail provided in the commentary - too much for me to take in - but suffice it to say the building is very impressive with an interesting history.  It is not called "The Phoenix" for nothing!  It has been rebuilt after several fires destroyed it at various times in its history.  The following is the info from Wikipedia:

Teatro La Fenice (pronounced [la feˈniːtʃe], "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi – were performed.

Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of three theatres to fire, the first in 1774 after the city's leading house was destroyed and rebuilt but not opened until 1792; the second fire came in 1836, but rebuilding was completed within a year. However, the third fire was the result of arson. It destroyed the house in 1996 leaving only the exterior walls, but it was rebuilt and re-opened in November 2004. 

Built in 1792 to a plan by the Architect Giannantonio Selva, the facade of the building is the only element to have completely survived the two fires that almost entirely destroyed the opera house in 1836 and 1996. Unlike the other theaters in the city, whose entrances are in secluded places like calli and campielli, La Fenice is the only historic Venetian theatre facing onto an open space, Campo San Fantin. It is also the only one to feature a colonnade in neo-classical style in its facade.

Thankfully, we were able to take photos everywhere we went so the following is some of the ones I took.  

The Foyer

View of the Royal Box

More of the boxes

The seats which can be warmed or cooled depending on the outside temperatures!

The Orchestra Pit

View from the Main Floor

View from the Royal Box

The ceiling which, with the use of "trompe d'oeil" looks domed when it is actually flat

The Building's Exterior

After our tour, we said good bye to Faye and Barry and made our way to Piazza San Marco where, while it was still crowded, it was much easier to walk around.  There were lots more people in costumes - but more about that in the next blog!