Teatro La Fenice Guided Tour

Follow us behind the scenes of one of the world’s most prestigious opera houses — La Fenice Theatre!

Built in 1792 in Neoclassical style after a public design competition won by Giannantonio Selva — a close friend of the sculptor Canova — La Fenice Theatre was originally one of many private venues for drama and opera in Venice. In December 1836, a devastating fire destroyed its interiors, which were rebuilt the following year, earning the theatre its symbolic name, La Fenice — “The Phoenix,” reborn from its ashes. During the nineteenth century, La Fenice hosted the world premieres of many iconic operas, including Rossini’s Tancredi, Sigismondo, and Semiramide; Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Beatrice di Tenda; Donizetti’s Belisario, Pia de’ Tolomei, and Maria de Rudenz; and Verdi’s masterpieces Ernani, Attila, Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Simon Boccanegra. With a seating capacity of over one thousand, the theatre is renowned for its superb acoustics—further enhanced after the reconstruction following the 1996 fire—and for its 98-member orchestra and 66-voice opera chorus. Loved by both locals and international audiences, La Fenice remains a leading stage for creativity and excellence. Today, it presents over one hundred opera performances each year, an acclaimed symphonic season led by world-renowned conductors, complete cycles of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, and Mahler symphonies, as well as ballets, chamber concerts, and a contemporary repertoire highlighting Venetian composers such as Luigi Nono and Bruno Maderna.