L’Aquila Municipal Theatre

L’Aquila Municipal Theatre (Teatro Comunale) is the city’s historic public theatre and stands in Piazza del Teatro. Built between 1854 and 1872 to a design by the architect Luigi Catalano, it has a typically neoclassical structure.

The foyer, known as the Sala Rossa (Red Room), is entirely frescoed and features a monumental marble staircase, also of neoclassical origin. The hall has a horseshoe-shaped stalls area facing a stage of about 150 m². The boxes surround the stalls and are arranged in three tiers, topped by a gallery of about 100 seats.

The earthquake of 6 April 2009 severely damaged the structure, causing cracks in the façade and the collapse of the foyer’s masonry vault and of the front cornice.

In December 2017, ASDEA S.r.l. was commissioned by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MiBACT), Regional Secretariat for Abruzzo, to carry out the seismic vulnerability assessment of the building in its current state. The study, carried out with sophisticated non-linear analyses, identified the structural deficiencies that make the building incompatible with the safety levels required by its public function, and will enable the planning of suitable safety works.