Olympic Theatre

The first and oldest permanent indoor theater of the modern era

The construction of the theatre, within a pre-existing medieval complex, was commissioned to Palladio by the Olympic Academy for the staging of classic comedies. Its construction began in 1580 and was inaugurated on 3 March 1585, after the creation of the famous fixed scenes by Vincenzo Scamozzi. These wooden structures are the only ones from the Renaissance period to have come down to us, and are also in an excellent state of preservation.