Opera house as wealthy patrons and it continues to have a large number of working opera houses such as Teatro Massimo in Palermo (the biggest in Italy), Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (the world's oldest working opera house) and Teatro La Scala in Milan. In contrast, there was no opera house in London when Henry Purcell was composing and the first opera house in Germany was built in Hamburg in 1678. In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera houses were often financed by rulers, nobles, and wealthy people who used patronage of the arts to endorse their political ambition and social
Waterville Opera House and City Hall Waterville Opera House and City Hall The Waterville Opera House and City Hall is a historic civic building at Castonguay Square (Common and Front Streets) in downtown Waterville, Maine. Built at the turn of the 20th century, it is one of a small number of multifunction civic buildings, housing both a live performance venue and municipal facilities, functions it continues to perform today. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The Waterville Opera House and City Hall stands in downtown Waterville, at the northwest corner of Common and Front Streets. Its main facade faces south,