This stunning theatre is made entirely of wood and was built in 1618 by G.B. Aleotti on the model of the Olympic theatre at Vicenza and inaugurated on the occasion of the marriage of Marguerita de Medici with Edward Farnese. It is a stunning piece of architecture, in which Renaissance majesty rubs shoulders with the burgeoning Baroque style. Ingenious machinery beneath the stage gave rise to the first mobile stage sets in the history of theatre.