Teatro Massimo Bellini

Catania argued about building itself an opera house for nearly two centuries after the earthquake of 1693 levelled the city. A foundation stone was laid in 1812; a provisional theatre served in the meantime; and only on 31 May 1890 did the Teatro Massimo Bellini open — with Norma, by the composer whose name it carries and whose birthplace the city is. Carlo Sada saw the work through, on earlier plans by Salvatore Zahra Buda. Four tiers of boxes rise round a hall of some 1,200 seats, beneath a ceiling by Ernesto Bellandi peopled with scenes from Bellini's operas. In 1951, for the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, Maria Callas sang Norma here, returning in the two seasons that followed. The theatre also runs the smaller Teatro Sangiorgi next door.