Angel dal Foco Theater

The Angel dal Foco Theater is contained within the old building which in the 17th century housed the warehouses of the Monte di Pietà, also known as dell'Abbondanza. Built by the Accademia degli Immaturi, when the space in the hall of the Palazzo Comunale had become insufficient.

The new theatre, inaugurated in 1696, was originally called the 'Teatro della Luna' and in 1723 saw its scenic equipment renewed by Francesco and Ferdinando Bibiena.

When in 1752 Pope Benedict XIV raised Pergola to the rank of "city", it was deemed appropriate to rebuild the theater: what happened between 1754 and 1758 by the Bolognese architect Raimondo Compagnini who made use of Giuseppe Torreggiani and the Pergolese Giovan Francesco Ferri for the new scenic kit.

Although the hall underwent some modifications, it still has the original physiognomy given to it by Compagnini: a U-shaped plan surrounded by three tiers of boxes (44 in total) and an open balcony gallery above with a ceiling set on the perimeter walls.

The parapets have a continuous band, interrupted by pilasters only on the sides of the proscenium which has a flat architrave, supported on the sides by four large corbels.

The entire structure is in brick, including the dividing walls of the boxes, and the decorative elements are quite modest, the clear result of a renovation carried out perhaps at the beginning of this century.

Tampered with by displaced people during the Second World War and stripped of all its furnishings and scenery, including the curtain (depicting a view of Pergola), painted by Pergolese Beniamino Barbanti in 1860 when the theater was dedicated to the mercenary captain Angelo Dal Foco or Angelo da Pergola, the same was left for several decades in a state of complete abandonment and only after a partial collapse of the roof recorded in 1981 did the progressive recovery work begin.

The Theater was reopened in December 2002 and is now back to its activity.

Map: Angel dal Foco Theater