The Verdi Theatre, born with the name of the New Theater (Teatro Nuovo), is one of the oldest opera houses in operation. It was built, at the proposal of Giovanni Matteo Tommasini, between 1798 and 1801 by the architects, Giannantonio Selva (the same as the "Fenice" of Venice) and Matteo Pertsch, on an open area overlooking the sea, located between the Teresiano village,the city's new commercial and economic center, and the Piazza Grande, the heart of political power.