Teatro Garibaldi

Teatro Garibaldi is a theater in Modica, located on Corso Umberto I, about 200 meters away from the Duomo di San Pietro.

SHORT HISTORY

The theater was born in the second decade of the 19th century, from the merging of a warehouse and a palace, receiving the name of Real Teatro Ferdinandeo. The building was enlarged between 1852 and 1857, reaching its current size.

The facade of the building was built in Neoclassical style, with two orders, surmounted by a balustrade which presents, in the center, a bas-relief with musical instruments. Above the bas-relief, supported by two male figures, is a clock with an eagle on top, the symbol of the County of Modica.

After the Unification of Italy, the theater was named after Giuseppe Garibaldi. In 1870, the building became municipal property. In 1943, the theater was adapted into a movie theater.

At the end of the Second World War, the building was unsafe, the floors and decorations were deteriorated, and renovation works became necessary. When the works were completed, the theater had an enlarged stage, a greater number of seats in the stalls and a tribune, above which was the projection room.

In 1984, the theater was closed. The engineer Giorgio Sarta, together with the architects Enzo and Giorgio Rizza, developed a project that aimed to bring the building back to the glories of the past.

The decorator Giorgio Modica intervened on the decorative apparatus of the stalls and the entrance hall, while the painter Piero Guccione made a large oil painting on the vaulted ceiling – the staircase of the Duomo di San Giorgio. After further restorations, the theater was definitively reopened to the public in 2000.

HOW TO GET THERE

Teatro Garibaldi is located about 1.4 kilometers from the Modica railway station. To find the theater on foot, use the map below.