Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Opera house in Santa Maria Maior, Portugal.
The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is a three-storey opera house with a pale stone lower level and a blue upper facade divided by white stone pilasters. Its ground floor has three arches behind a stone balustrade balcony, and the top storey centres on a round clock face. The elliptical hall has five tiers of boxes and seats 1,148 people.
The opera house opened in 1793 as a replacement for an earlier theater that had been destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. This reconstruction showed Lisbon's commitment to restoring its cultural life after the disaster.
The theatre is named after Princess Carlota Joaquina of Spain, who married the future King João VI in 1785; a Latin plaque inside dedicates the house to her. Until the monarchy fell it was called the "Italian Theatre", since operas were sung in Italian, and Portuguese composers such as Alfredo Keil had to set Italian librettos, as with A Serrana in 1899.
The theater is located in Lisbon's old town and is easy to reach on foot with good signage marking the way. The interior has multiple staircases, so wearing comfortable shoes helps when exploring the different levels.
The ceiling of the elliptical auditorium was painted by Manuel da Costa, while the stage was painted by Cirilo Wolkmar Machado. The royal box was decorated by the Italian Giovanni Appianni. The hall has five tiers of boxes.
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