Venice – Gran Teatro La Fenice

There is much more to Venice than just canals and Gondolas, as this post will clearly prove. The Gran Teatro La Fenice (Great Theatre of The Phoenix) was not originally on our itinerary, but happenchance and curiosity led us through the doors. As I now understand, La Fenice is one of the most famous operatic theatres in Europe, and the meaning of its name derives from it having risen from the ashes – as does a phoenix when reborn – following a fire that destroyed the original theatre, San Benedetto, in 1774. Unfortunately, for opera lovers, the theatre was once more destroyed by fire in 1836, and yet again in 1996, the latter being caused by arsonists. In 2001 La Fenice was reopened after a reconstruction costing approximately £90m. Discovering the marvel of its interior was worth every cent of the 9 Euro admission fee.

Gran Teatro La Fenice

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