If ever a theatre were set to upstage the actors, it's the 18th-century Teatro Bibiena. Dimly lit and festooned with plush velvet, its highly unusual, intimate bell-shaped design sees four storeys of ornate, stucco balconies arranged around curving walls. It was specifically intended to allow its patrons to be seen – balconies even fill the wall behind the stage. You can wander round at will during the day or come to an evening performance to see the building come alive.
Just a few weeks after it opened in 1769 the theatre hosted a concert by a 14-year-old prodigy – one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
