Teatro Donizetti, Opera house in Bergamo, Italy

The Teatro Donizetti is an opera house located at Piazza Cavour in Bergamo with a finely detailed facade and interior from the late 18th century. The building features two tiers of balconies and a central audience hall that together hold approximately 1150 seats.

The first theatre on the site, the Teatro Riccardi, opened on 24 August 1791 with Metastasio's Didone abbandonata; the original structure burned down in 1797, possibly by arson. Architect Giovanni Francesco Lucchini designed the replacement, which opened on 30 June 1800 with a horseshoe-shaped hall of three tiers of boxes and two galleries. The Neoclassical facade by Roman architect Pietro Via dates from 1897, when the house was renamed for Donizetti's birth centenary.

The theater is named after Gaetano Donizetti, the famous composer born in Bergamo, and this connection reflects the city's deep bond with opera music. The performances here keep this musical tradition alive by regularly staging works by Donizetti and other composers.

The theatre faces the Sentierone, the broad avenue of Bergamo's lower town, not the hilltop Città Alta. The park beside it holds the Monument to Donizetti. Guided visits cover the history, the architecture, the backstage and the boxes, and can be booked online in Italian or English.

The theater hosts an annual festival that showcases rare and new productions of Donizetti's works along with previously unknown operas. This celebration draws opera lovers from many countries who wish to explore the compositions of this renowned local composer.