Teatro Ballarin di Lendinara

On a small and charming square overlooking the Naviglio Adigetto coast, there is the Ballarin Theater, which has been restored to its former glory for some years, after being closed for over twenty years.

Behind the elegant facade, there is a complex history made up of expansions, renovations and transformations.

The building, in fact, has its origins in the Estense period and only in 1812 was transformed into a theater, based on a project by the architect Antonio Foschini, the same architect of the Teatro Comunale of Ferrara.

The lively cultural life of Lendinara and Polesine in general led, over the years, to a series of expansions involving both the scenic area and the one occupied by the public, which gradually became more and more numerous.

In parallel with these restructurations, important renovations also followed of the decorative apparatus, adapting it to current styles.

In 1948 the most radical transformation took place: the Theater became a cinema hall.

Consequently, the stages were suppressed in favor of a large gallery and the atrium, entrance and stairs were redone to increase their capacity.

Fortunately, the nineteenth-century facade remained unchanged.

In 1986, however, the Ballarin was closed and subsequently remained unused until 2007, when, after its complete restoration, it returned to being an important hub of cultural life in Lendinara.