I teatri di Milano e la memoria ritrovata

Milan is a self-devouring city, which destroys and rebuilds it- self. As it frequently forgets its past, or it suffers of memory blackouts. Luca d’Albis, in the !rst volume of our research (Milano e la memoria: distruzioni, ricostruzioni, recuperi) has shown that many cinemas have been destroyed, transformed, erased from the city map. The same process is visible in the past, regarding theatres: the Roman theatre and amphitheatre have been dismantled in the Christian era, and their materials were used for other buildings, mostly churches. In the twen- tieth century, some theatres were built and destroyed (for in- stance Teatro del Popolo, Teatro Sant’Erasmo, Teatro di Porta Romana); in recent times, many of them closed or changed destination – they became shops, public or private spaces – due to economical crisis, covid and other reasons (the former Teatro Smeraldo now hosts a grocery store). However, some have been lately restored and re-opened, such as Teatro Gero- lamo and Teatro Lirico.