Asioli Theater

Address and contacts

Opening times

The theater is normally accessible only for performances or events

Entrance fee

According to the on going performance or event

How to get there

Correggio

By car
Driving along the A22 Modena-Brennero motorway, exiting at the Carpi tollbooth and following the directions for Correggio (then following the SS468 towards the south);
using the A1 Milan - Bologna motorway, exiting at the Reggio Emilia tollbooth and following the signs for Carpi-Correggio (taking the SS468 in a northerly direction).

By train
The closer railway station to Correggio are Reggio Emilia (about 20 km) and Carpi (about 7 Km)

By bus
From Piazzale Europa - Reggio Emilia, bus n. 43 or 82

Historical notes

The first performances seem to date to February 1660.
Restoration and expansion works were carried out as from 1752, though about a century later the condition of the building was judged to be disastrous.
In 1850, the local community was favourable to building a new theatre that was erected on a design by the architect Francesco Forti and inaugurated in 1852. The actual completion, however, only took place some twenty years later.
The façade was finished in 1872-73 by the engineer Antonio Tegani of Reggio Emilia using eight marble columns offered by the Municipality of Modena. In 1880, the theatre was named for the musician Bonifazio Asioli. It was partially destroyed by fire in 1889 and reconstructed toward the end of the century. Reconstruction, which started in 1890, was supervised by the municipal engineer Giuseppe Aimi in respect for the previous characteristics. In 1898, thanks to a public subscription, the theatre was inaugurated with a performance of Puccini’s La Bohème. In 1909 another fire occurred, in which the building did not suffer particular damage but two people were killed. From 1943 to 1960, the theatre was used as a cinema; it was later returned to the Municipality of Correggio in precarious condition in terms of structures, technical systems, and services. The theatre was reopened in 1973. The painter Franco Zanichelli supervised the restoration of the frescoes, decorations, and stuccowork.
The theatre has a neo-Classical façade which holds four marble medallions by the sculptor Eusebio Casalgrandi depicting Bonifazio Asioli, Claudio Merulo, Nicolò da Correggio, and Samuele Jesi. The vestibule has an octagonal plan, giving access to the atrium in which two marble tablets commemorate the musicians Merulo and Asioli.