Teatro Comunale

Porto San Giorgio

General

The area of the nominated property includes the Teatro Comunale and the Church of San Giorgio Martire. Both buildings embody the historical and cultural essence of the place.

The Teatro Comunale is located on Via Domenico Collina, the long road that connects the seaside town to the city of Fermo and is called Viale Don Giovanni Minzoni in the section nearest the sea. The theatre is a standalone building, designed with the stripped, rationalist aesthetic typical of the Enlightenment. Its compact volume stands in stark contrast to the nearby church of San Giorgio Martire across the street. The neoclassical church presents a screen façade and welcomes the faithful into a majestic space divided into three aisles. In the square in front of the church are the clock tower and the Fontana della Democrazia, the fountain created to celebrate the construction of the aqueduct in Porto San Giorgio.

The Teatro Comunale in Porto San Giorgio is a lively cultural hub located in the heart of the town. The theatre uses manual rope rigging only and does not have a motorised system. An impressive medieval fortress wall behind the theatre adds a historical element to the building’s immediate surroundings.

The Teatro Comunale in Porto San Giorgio offers a varied programme of theatre, opera, classical music, chamber music, jazz, theatre in dialect, and shows for children. The theatre also hosts special events for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, International Women’s Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Schools in Porto San Giorgio and Fermo use the theatre for end-of-year performances and various cultural associations organise events and performances there. The theatre partners with 12 cultural associations and is a venue for training courses and conferences for various professionals, including local government employees, lawyers, accountants, healthcare professionals, and educators. The theatre is open for visits by request all year round for groups, schools and guides.

Historical Context

Age of the Bourgeois Revolutions (1789–1848)

Design and Inauguration dates

1812–1817

Giuseppe Lucatelli (1751–1828)

Owned by

Municipality of Porto San Giorgio

Capacity

286

Continuity of use/Activity

180 days open/year
125 performance days
55 days of community cultural activities

Artists

Giuseppe Lucatelli (cartoons for decorations), Roberto Altemps (scenery), Mariano Piervittori (decorations, curtain), Sigismondo Nardi (decorations)

Location

Porto San Giorgio

Fermo
,
Marche

Population in

1861

3.003 inhabitants

Current Population

15.617 inhabitants

Teatro Comunale
Church of San Giorgio Martire
18th-century cemetery
Clock Tower

Plan

Horseshoe

Building
Auditorium

Building

Façade

The all-brick façade clearly announces the purpose of the building, both through the tympanum above the avant-corps and the inscription CASTIGAT RIDENDO MORES between two mascarons symbolising Comedy and Tragedy. The inscription occupies the long travertine slab in the centre of the façade, which is stylistically consistent with the horizontal decorative band on the brick facing of both the avant-corps and the two wings behind it. The three windows on the upper floor below the tympanum are aligned with the round-arched main door and the two smaller ground-floor windows.

Layout of Interior Spaces

The innovative positioning of the foyer on the same level as the third tier of boxes was probably dictated by the small size of the building plot and the need to facilitate access.

Auditorium

Vertical Arrangement

Three tiers of boxes and a gallery.

Plafond

Camorcanna shallow dome vaulted ceiling. The vault was painted by Sigismondo Nardi, inspired by the theatre’s Greek origins. Against a backdrop of the night sky with the moon and the signs of the zodiac, symbolising the harmony of the universe, appear groups of famous men (Homer, Alcaeus, Sophocles, Aristophanes), representing the various arts. Above the sky is a velarium anchored with reliefs of stucco ropes, an allusion to the velaria with which the Greeks protected their theatres from the sun's rays. The false parapet, which runs around the outside of the vault, is divided into four sections in which are represented the four theatrical arts: Tragedy, Comedy, Music, Dance.