Fodor's Expert Review Teatro San Carlo and MeMus Museum

Out of all the Italian opera houses, La Scala in Milan is the most famous, but San Carlo is more beautiful, and Naples is, after all, the most operatic of cities. The neoclassical structure, designed by Antonio Niccolini, was built in a mere nine months after an 1816 fire destroyed the original. Many operas were composed for the house, including Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Rossini's La Donna del Lago. In the theater, nearly 200 boxes are arranged on six levels, and the 12,000-square-foot stage permits large-scale productions.