What is Teatro di San Carlo?
[[File:Teatro de San Carlos, Nápoles, Italia, 2023-03-25, DD 184-186 HDR.jpg|thumb|The front of the Teatro di San Carlo]] The '''Teatro di San Carlo''' is a famous [[opera house]] in [[Naples]], [[Italy]]. It is sometimes called the '''Teatro San Carlo''' or simply the '''San Carlo'''. Its name means Theatre of [[Saint]] Charles. It was built in 1737. When it was first built it was the biggest opera house in the world. Today, it is still one of the biggest opera houses in Italy. It is also the oldest opera house in Italy. Many [[opera]]s were first performed at the Teatro di San Carlo. Seventeen of [[Donizetti]]'s operas and eight of [[Rossini]]'s operas were first performed there. ==History of Teatro di San Carlo== The new King of Naples, [[Charles III of Spain|Charles VII]], was very interested in the [[arts]]. He wanted the city to have a new and beautiful opera house. The old one, the Teatro San Bartolomeo, was falling apart. King Charles paid for building the new theatre. It was built on land next to his [[palace]] and designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano (1703 – 1760). The new theatre took only seven months to build. It opened on 4 March 1737. The first opera performed there was ''{{lang|it|Achille in Sciro}}'' ([[Achilles]] in [[List of Greek islands|Skyros]]). The famous Italian [[poet]], [[Pietro Metastasio|Metastasio]], wrote the words and story. [[Domenico Sarro]] wrote the music. He also [[conducting|conducted]] the [[orchestra]]. [[File:Sancarlo palcoreale.JPG|thumb|The box seats inside the Teatro di San Carlo. The box in the centre with a large [[crown]] on top was the king's box]] The building burnt down on 12 February 1816. Six days after the fire, King Ferdinand IV (the son of King Charles) asked the [[architect]] Antonio Niccolini to build the theatre again. Nicolini used Medrano's designs but he made the [[Stage (theatre)|stage]] bigger. The inside of the new Teatro di San Carlo was even more beautiful than the first one. The new theatre opened on 12 January 1817, with an opera by [[Simon Mayr]