Teatro Massimo, located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo - it is the largest opera house in Italy and one of the biggest in Europe. In addition, worldwide known for its unique acoustics. The theater is named after the first king of a united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. Interesting fact - this is where the final scenes were filmed the legendary film "The Godfather 3".

Construction of the theater began in January 1874 at the initiative of the mayor's office of Palermo. And before that, during the long 10 years it held an international competition to design the opera house, which according to its organizers was to serve as a reminder of the establishment of a new European state - a unified Italy. Pobedetilem competition was the architect Giovanni Battista Filippo Basile, who started the construction of the building. However, less than a few months, as the building has been frozen by as much as 8 years and only resumed in 1890. Basile died a year later, and it took his son Ernesto, who brought the building up to the end of the 22 years after its inception. May 16, 1897 Opera House was inaugurated - the first production was the opera by Giuseppe Verdi "Falstaff", conducted by Leopoldo Mugnone.

Architect Basile fulfilled its creation in neo-classical style with elements of Greek temples, as was genuinely delighted with the ancient Sicilian architecture. At the same time the main auditorium, which seats up to 3 thousand people, and has the shape of a horseshoe with seven lodges, decorated in the style of the late Renaissance. Inside you can see the sculptures of the great composers of the world of work Italian Giusto Levee and his sons.

In the 20th century the theater was carried out major restoration - it started in 1974 and due to the political crises of those years lasted for long 23 years old. Updated theater opened its doors to the public a few days before the centennial - May 12, 1997. However, the opera season opened only in 1999 - during the two years were performances in small theaters in the neighborhood.