Teatro Argentina

One of Rome's oldest and most important theatres, this house opened in 1732 on the Largo di Torre Argentina, above the ancient temple ruins that give the square its name. It witnessed the disastrous 1816 premiere of Rossini's Barber of Seville before the work's later triumph. The horseshoe auditorium, richly tiered and gilded, remains a leading venue for spoken drama as home of the Teatro di Roma. Its position beside the excavated Republican-era temples, near the site tied to Caesar's assassination, gives it an unusually layered setting.