arts
Updated 16th December 2020
Written by Valentina DiDonato, Antonia MortensenAlessandro Gentile, CNN
The world's oldest opera house, the Teatro di San Carlo in Italy, has survived wars, fires and the Neapolitan revolution. But this year, as the theater launches its winter season program, the doors to the public have remained closed. The theater has not seen a live audience since March, the longest time in its history, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Built in the southern city of Naples under the rule of King Charles of Bourbon in 1737, the opera house still bears the grandeur of the time. His goal was to make Naples a great European capital -- and the theater was spared no detail. Inside, the 184 box seats, divided in six tiers, each have a mirror pointed toward the royal box -- spectators of the era were expected to have the same reaction as the king.