Bourbon King Charles VII of Naples commissioned the theatre, which Giovanni Antonio Medrano designed. Angelo Carasale was primarily responsible for its elaborate furnishings. It was inaugurated on November 4, 1737, and the article calls it the oldest continuously active venue for opera in the world. It cost 75,000 ducats.
The original hall was 94 feet (28.6 m) long and 74 feet (22.5 m) wide, with 184 boxes in six orders and a royal box for ten people, for 1,379 seats. Its horseshoe-shaped auditorium is described as the oldest in the world.
A fire on February 13, 1816, during a ballet dress rehearsal, destroyed the theatre. Antonio Niccolini worked on the rebuilding, which took ten months and produced a horseshoe auditorium with 1,444 seats. The proscenium is 110 feet (33.5 m) wide and 98 feet (30 m) high. Current capacity is 1,386 seats, down from a former capacity of 3,285.
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