Teatro della Sapienza (Theatre of Knowledge)

A first theatre, dating back to 1362, was already exhisting in  a huge cross shaped vaults room, with the aim of hosting cultural activities of the “collegio della Sapienza Vecchia” (College of Old Knowledge).

In the second half of the XVIII Century that theatre was called “Teatro Nazionale dell'Accademia di Belle Lettere ed Arti” (National Theatre of the Academy of fine Arts and Literature). Until the pre-Napoleonic period (1798) it hosts several wondering companies both Italian and Foreigners; they say that also the young Goldoni acted here. 

Following the XIX Century reconstruction of the building, the new wing of the complex was rebuilt in Neo Gothic Style. Today it looks like a medieval room divided into two cross vaulted naves. The stage craft apparatus reproduces, in reduced dimensions, the typical opera theatre, like the “Alla Scala” in Milan. An elegant upper gallery surrounds half of the stalls. The most famous names of Perugia were called for the decoration of the main room and the Red Room: L. Rossi Scotti and M. Tassi who painted nice eclectic decorations.

In the last years of the XX Century, the theatre has been repaired and newly open to the public.