Arriving in the central square of Montecatini Alto, it is possible to perceive that intimate atmosphere that characterizes the entire village and that particularly struck Giuseppe Giusti, the Monsumman poet after whom the square is named. A place, therefore, devoted to art right from its name.
A building with a unique character
And it is here that one of the village’s most distinctive buildings is located, the so-called Teatro dei Risorti, which from the mid-18th century became the home of the Accademia dei Filodrammatici. Its eclectic facade certainly makes it the most unique building in the village.
The history of the building
The theater developed from the expansion of a 14th-century town-owned building known as the “Loggia del Parlascio,” as assemblies and markets were held here.
The birth of the Theatre of the Risen
The upper floor was occupied, beginning in the early nineteenth century, by the Theatre of the Risen. This name symbolically declared the rebirth to new life of the Filodrammatici, which had decayed during the 18th century.
The Stars of Italian Operetta
A number of important performers of Italian Operetta, such as Guido Riccioli, Ettore Petrolini and Fernanda Primavera, performed on the stage of the theater.
The transformation to cinema
During the 1950s, the theater also became a cinema, replacing the stage backdrop with a screen painted white.
A unique historical heritage
The Teatro dei Risorti certainly represents one of the oldest theater spaces in the province of Pistoia, a living testimony to the rich cultural tradition of the area.
