Another architctural excellency of the city is the Angel dal Foco theatre, created into the ancient building that hosted the Pawnshop’s warehouses. Most peculiar is its not horseshoe but muleshoe shape, due to the necessity of inserting it into the structure of the building. Its reconstruction dates from the mid XVIII Century, when pope Benedict XIV promoted Pergola to the rank of “City”. To enjoy this privilege, indeed, the community had to be provided with both a City hall and a theatre. Reopened in 2002 after complicated restoration works made necessary by severe damages caused by the war (in 1948 it was occupied by refugees), nowadays the theatre, with its very deep stage where triumphal scenes with horses are told to have been performed, boasts more than 250 seats, divided between three lines of loges, the parterre and a gallery, and hosts a rich and interesting theatre season. It is dedicated to the captain of fortune Angel dal Foco, a famous and adventurous warlord who lived in the mid XIV Century. He is told to have got his name after a night assault where, to make believe he had more forces than he actually had, and create confusion in the enemy lines, he would have lit fires on the horns of oxen, imitating Hannibal’s famous stratagem.
Pergola