The Teatro del Mediterraneo is an open-air theatre in Bisceglie, built in 1995 on the western shore, at the locality «trullo verde», about three kilometres from the town centre. It is one of the places most appreciated by tourists and by the people of Bisceglie, especially in summer.
What to see
In the recovery plan for the western stretch of coast, which the town had adopted already in the early nineties, a work for cultural activities was planned in a tourist-hotel area. Fundamental was the contribution of the architect Amedeo Clavarino, who proposed a structure to be built with the techniques of landscape architecture, conceived not as an enclosed space but as architecture immersed in a natural setting: for this reason the final design adopted the type of a Greek theatre, with a circular core around which the tiers for the spectators fan out. The work was finished in the first months of 1995 and was reviewed by the architectural historian Bruno Zevi in the architecture column of L'Espresso. The theatre has hosted countless theatre, dance and music performances, with important national and international artists.
The structure is entirely open-air: the orchestra, at the lowest level, is a complete circle, while the semicircular cavea, which can hold about six hundred spectators, is dug into the slope near the cliff coast and faces north-west, so that the spectators see a natural scene that looks out on the Adriatic Sea and frames on the horizon the cathedral of Trani and the Gargano promontory. The cavea is made of superimposed steps serving as seats and of three ramps of steps set radially; the ends near the stage, with a terraced view of the sea, are supported by stone buttress walls, and on the east side an ambulatory path lets spectators reach the lowest seats. Most of the structure is dry-stone masonry in Trani stone, with some parts in reinforced earth faced with dry stone; the paving too is in local limestone. A system of terraces links the theatre to pedestrian paths on two levels along the beach, and it adjoins a meeting space around the trullo verde, a typical local building surrounded by gardens and by a monolithic sculpture in local stone.
Visiting
The theatre is on the western shore of Bisceglie, about three kilometres from the centre. The sources consulted give no information on the programme or the box office: check them.
Our editors' tip
The artistic management of the theatre is in the hands of the Comune of Bisceglie.
