The Accademia Olimpica obtained the rights to build the theater in 1579. Andrea Palladio designed it but died in August 1580, about six months after construction began. His son Silla took charge, and Vincenzo Scamozzi was called in to complete it. It was built from 1580 to 1585 in a former fortress and opened on March 3, 1585 with Sophocles's Oedipus Rex.
The Renaissance theater is modeled on classical Roman theaters. The back wall and the stage scenery are wood and stucco painted to imitate marble. Scamozzi designed the stage set of seven street views in trompe l'oeil perspective, which appear long but recede only a few meters. The article calls it the oldest surviving stage set.
Scamozzi's oil-lamp lighting was used only a few times because of cost and fire risk, and again in 1997. Audiences are limited to 400 for conservation. UNESCO listed it in 1994. The article gives no ticket details.
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