Politeama Garibaldi Theatre of Palermo

The Teatro Politeama Garibaldi is one of Palermo’s major cultural venues, located on the central Piazza Ruggero Settimo, often simply called Piazza Politeama.
It was conceived as a “politeama”, a versatile venue dedicated to various forms of entertainment, distinguished from the more aristocratic Teatro Massimo by its more popular role. It thus hosts operettas, circus, concerts and various shows.
Since 2001, it has also been the seat of the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, which holds its main concert season there.
The theatre housed the Gallery of Modern Art of Palermo between 1910 and 2006.

Construction and architecture

This majestic theatre was built between 1867 and 1874, in a style inspired by Roman antiquity, with a double ambulatory of colonnades and a facade shaped like a triumphal arch, dominated by a bronze chariot by Mario Rutelli.
It was designed by the architect Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda, chosen after a competition held by the city of Palermo in 1866. The inauguration took place on 7 June 1874, before its complete completion.

Originally, the building was conceived as an open arena, without the current roof, intended for shows, acrobatics, gymnastics and mass events.
The iron and glass dome was built by the Fonderie Oretea in 1877 to allow covered theatrical use.
The last exterior and interior decorative works were completed in 1891, the year of the Palermo National Exhibition, with the participation of important Sicilian painters of the time. These decorations, of Pompeian inspiration, adorn the exterior colonnades and the interior hall. 

The main horseshoe-shaped hall has two tiers of private boxes, a balcony and a double gallery with tiers, able to accommodate nearly 5,000 spectators originally, 950 today.
The interior features polychrome decoration of Pompeian inspiration, a dome painted in sky blue with the pictorial cycle of the Eleutheria Festivals (Greek festivals celebrating freedom) by Gustavo Mancinelli.
At the centre of the stage, a Corinthian colonnade bears a bronze bust of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

The entrance hall preserves the “Dancer”, a sculpture by Amedeo Cataldi, one of the most notable sculptures exhibited in the theatre’s entrance space.

Palchetto della Musica

The Piazza Castelnuovo, adjacent to Piazza Ruggero Settimo also called “Piazza Politeama”, forms a vast urban space.
At its centre is the Palchetto della Musica, a small neoclassical kiosk in white marble, erected in 1875 according to the design of Salvatore Valenti to accommodate musicians with open-air concerts.
The structure rests on a raised base, surrounded by about twenty Corinthian columns supporting an entablature decorated with palmettes, and triangular pediments adorned with the Triscele, the thousand-year-old symbol of Sicily.
It has recently undergone restoration work and cultural initiatives aimed at restoring its original musical function.

Where is the Politeama Theatre of Palermo