TEATRO DEI VIGILANTI
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Amazing high construction, forming a delicious Italian theater with three floors of boxes
During his exile on the island of Elba, Bonaparte wished to equip the city of Portoferraio with a theatre, known as the Vigilantes. This astonishing high building, forming a delightful Italian-style theatre with three floors of boxes, was inaugurated on 24 January 1815. The Emperor dared to nestle his theatre in the nave of an old desacralized 17th-century church dedicated to the Madonna del Carmine, of which the side columns and the apse, embedded under the stage, remain. The 65 dressing rooms became the object of covetousness among the rich families of Elbo society! Recently restored, this theatre, the only one on the island, regularly stages plays and organises concerts of international standard. In 2015, the town of Portoferraio decided to dedicate the theatre to Renato Cioni, nicknamed "the voice of the Elba". This famous tenor from the island, who died in 2014, was invited to the world's greatest stages in the company of Maria Callas or Renata Scotto.
Curtain up! Painted in tempera by Vincenzo Antonio Revelli (author of the frescoes of the Napoleonic residences), the original stage curtain is still visible. It represents Napoleon as Apollo, god of music and arts, guarding the flocks in the service of Admet, mythological king of Phères in Thessaly. A bucolic representation drawing a clear parallel between the exile of Apollo and that of Napoleon on the Elba.
A single ticket exists for the Archaeological Museum, the Vigilanti Theatre, Fort Falcone and the Medici Fortress, valid for 7 days.
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