The Arena Flegrea, which today is considered the largest theatre in Southern Italy, was first designed in 1937 by the architect Giulio De Luca, who was commissioned by Mussolini, who wanted to build a "mass theatre for the masses". The Arena, built in 1940, was inaugurated only in 1952 as the summer seat of the Teatro San Carlo, opening the season with Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. The inauguration was delayed because of the war, since the Flegrea area was hit by bombing and closed to the public for several years, until the architect De Luca took the initiative to restructure the theatre, keeping as much as possible its original structure.
After a series of unfortunate events (two fires in the ’70s, earthquakes, vandalism and thefts), in 1989 the Arena was demolished. In the same year its construction began again. The new structure, which should have been inaugurated for the 1990 World Cup, remained an open-air construction site for almost ten years. The final test took place on 26 June 2001. The new "Arena Flegrea" was finally built.
The building substantially follows the typology and dimensions of the old Arena, but follows a design logic that is more attentive to the functional dimension, more sensitive to the needs of artists and musicians.
