Teatro alla Scala is not merely an opera house — it is the global benchmark against which all opera houses are measured. Opened in 1778 on the site of the demolished church of Santa Maria alla Scala (from which it takes its name), the theatre was commissioned by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and designed by neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini. Its austere cream-and-grey facade on Piazza della Scala gives little away, which is part of the point: Milan has always kept its treasures slightly hidden. Step inside and the famous horseshoe auditorium unfolds in tiers of red velvet and gilded boxes, lit by a chandelier of extraordinary scale, and the effect is quietly overwhelming even before a single note is played.
Monument