Venue: Anfiteatro Correa
Town: Rome, IT

The Anfiteatro Correa was an amphitheatre in 1870 in Rome, Italy and was later known as the Anfiteatro Umberto I. In 1908, the theatre was transformed into a concert hall known as the Teatro Augusteo. The amphitheatre was built on the remains of the Mausoleum of Augustus in Campo Marzio at the behest of the Portuguese Marquis Vincenzo Mani Correa, who resided at Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina and was the owner of a palace built against the Mausoleum as well as of the imperial ruin itself. The name Corea came from Romanesco, which tends to elide the doubling of the consonant "r", reducing it to a single consonant. The habit ended up changing the surname of the Marquis as well, who was later called Corea: Via del Corea, located in the vicinity of the former amphitheatre, was named after him. A garden had been created in the interior of the mausoleum a long time before. A tenant of Spanish origins named Matas equipped it with wooden scaffolding, thus creating a circular arena with bleachers intended for horse shows, tournaments with animals, hunts and fireworks (at the time called fochetti, Romanesco for "little fires"): it had a total capacity between one thousand and three thousand spectators. The inauguration took place on 3 July 1780. In 1802 the amphitheatre was acquired by the Apostolic Camera: it allowed the performance of circus and animal shows, which have always been highly appreciated by the Roman people. The theatre, which was located outdoors, was equipped with a velarium, built in 1826 by Giuseppe Valadier: but one afternoon in late August - fortunately before the show started - the velarium collapsed together with and on the workmen who were setting it up, one of whom, a father of five, died in the accident. The reigning Pope Leo XII wanted to personally decide an exemplary punishment for those responsible for the accident: as compensation for the widow, penalties were imposed on all the architects (1,000 scudi to Valadier and a further 500 for each to the