A peculiarity of the city, more subdued and out of sight compared to the grandiose Gonzaga works, is represented by the palace of the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana, located near Piazza Broletto, the heart of Mantua. Built in the second half of the eighteenth century under Austrian rule, the palace has an austere façade designed by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini, famous for having designed the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Inside is one of the most beautiful theatres in the world, designed by Antonio Galli Bibbiena.
It is called "Teatro Scientifico" and has a tiny hall that is a masterpiece of illusionism and fiction. Nothing in this theatre is what it appears to be: the marble columns are fake, in reality painted wood, the stuccoes on the ceiling are fake, its size is illusory, and it appears enlarged by the bell-shaped plan. In this theatre the young Mozart played, two months after its inauguration. It is impossible to leave the city without feeling the thrill of seeing it suddenly open and light up, preceded by a modest foyer that suggests everything except the magnificence of this great stroke of 18th-century genius.
