The Ansaldo Workshops of La Scala

Why it is on the list

Every production at La Scala is made here, not at the theatre. Since 2001 the workshops have filled the former Ansaldo steel works: three pavilions named for the director Luchino Visconti, the stage designer Nicola Benois and the costume designer Caramba.¹ More than 150 joiners, blacksmiths, sculptors, scene painters and dressmakers build each staging by hand from the designer's sketch, and the store holds more than 60,000 stage costumes.¹ There is also a rehearsal stage the same size as the Piermarini stage in the theatre.¹ The visit is led by specialist guides working with the heads of the workshop departments and passes through the Benois and Caramba pavilions to the costume store.²³

It is the wrong choice for seeing the auditorium or a performance; this is the backstage, half an hour from the theatre.³ For a single painting seen alone, take the after-hours Last Supper instead.

How to get it

Visits run on Tuesdays and Thursdays and last 60 to 75 minutes.² A party of 4 to 20 can take a group slot, from 9 am to 12 noon or from 2 to 4 pm; individual places follow the published calendar and go ahead only once four people have booked.² Book through Civita, which runs the visits, at serviziculturali@civita.art or +39 02 43353525, at least two days ahead; booking is compulsory.² The theatre lists adults at EUR 25 and under-18s at EUR 15; the museum's online sale lists adults at EUR 35 plus fees.²³ The tour is given in Italian and English.³ The workshops are at Via Bergognone 34, 300 metres from MUDEC; from the theatre take M1 to Cadorna and M2 to Porta Genova, or tram 14 to Piazza del Rosario.³

Discretion

The workshops are a working site closed to walk-in visitors and open only to booked, guided parties.² A party of 4 to 20 that books a group slot has the guide to itself.²