Olympic Theatre – Vicenza

The Olympic Theatre, one of the artistic wonders of Vicenza, is located inside Palazzo del Territorio in piazza Matteotti, on the eastern end of corso Palladio. It is used for theatrical and musical festivals, concerts and private events and can seat approx. 400.
Commissioned by the Accademia Olimpica and built in 1580, it is the oldest indoor brick theatre in the world. Andrea Palladio’s design was inspired by the Roman theatres described by Vitruvius: an elliptical stepped seating area, bounded by a colonnade with statues on the frieze, faces a rectangular stage with a majestic two storey proscenium featuring three arches, regularly placed half-columns and superimposed niches, statues and squares of bas-reliefs. The showy interiors were made from simple materials: wood, plaster, stucco.
After Palladio’s death, the Vicenzan architect Vincenzo Scamozzi was entrusted with the work of completing the backdrop. His well-conserved fixed wooden stage wings produce a remarkable effect of perspective (trompe-l’-oeil) and are still present today.