Teatro Olimpico: Vicenza

: Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza is a masterpiece. Imagine a Roman style amphitheatre that’s been transplanted indoors, a Roman theatre stage with a Porta regia (triumphal arch) and trompe l’oeil street views that give the illusion of looking down the streets of a city from classical antiquity ((it was originally intended to represent Thebes in “Oedipus Rex“)). Although the Teatro Olimpico was built during the Renaissance period, the structure takes us way back in time. As one travel presenter puts it, “Illusion becomes pure theater in Teatro Olimpico”. Teatro Olimpico was Andrea Palladio’s last work. Having returned to his native Vicenza in 1579, he was commissioned by the Accademia Olimpica, a cultural group which he was a member of, to build a theatre in 1580. Palladio was very much inspired by Roman classical theatres. Six months after construction had started in 1580, he died unexpectedly at the age of 72