Inventing the opera house : theater architecture in Renaissance and baroque Italy Ferrara and Mantua 1486 1519 Rome 1480s 1520 Early theaters in Venice and the Veneto Sixteenth century Florence with excursions to Venice Lyon and Siena Early permanent theaters and the commedia dellarte Theaters in the ancient manner and Andrea Palladio Drama tourney theaters Ferrara Parma and theaters of Giovanni Battista Aleotti Seventeenth century theaters in Venice: the invention of the opera house Seventeenth century theaters for comedy and opera Teatro di Tordinona in Rome Queen Christina of Sweden and Carlo Fontana