Fodor's Expert Review Auditorium Oscar Niemeyer

Crowning Via della Repubblica and the hillside, which overlooks the spectacular Bay of Salerno, Auditorium Oscar Niemeyer is a startling piece of modernist architecture. Designed with a dramatically curved, all-white roof by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, it was conceived as an alternative indoor venue for concerts, including those of the famed Ravello Festival of music and arts, and is now also used as a cinema in the winter. The subject of much controversy since its first conception back in 2000, it raised the wrath of some locals who denounced such an ambitious modernist building in medieval Ravello. They need not have worried: the result, inaugurated in 2010, is a design masterpiece—a huge canopied roof suspended over a 400-seat concert area, with a giant eye-shape window allowing spectators to contemplate the extraordinary bay vista during performances. While only open during concerts and events, it is worth visiting to admire not only the architecture but also the impressive views from the large terrace, which is also a scenic setting for art exhibitions during the Ravello Festival.