Pjazza Teatru Rjal
On the evening of Tuesday April 7, 1942 the theatre suffered its second tragedy when it was devastated in an aerial attack by Stuka dive-bombers. Its pristine interior and most of its side walls came crashing down and one of Malta’s cultural and architectural landmarks ended up in miserable ruins. Only the numerous Corinthian columns and peripheral hard stone base survived. After many attempts to rebuild the theatre, in 2006 the government announced a proposal to redevelop the site to provide a new location for the House of Parliament. Renzo Piano was entrusted with the project and, after having dissuaded the Government from building a Parliament on the opera house site, chose to construct the Parliament building on Freedom Square and to convert and use the ruins of the opera house as an open-air theatre. Thus the Pjazza Teatru Rjal came to be. It was officially inaugurated on August 8, 2013. It is regarded as a monument that stands for the heroism, tenacity and dignity of the Maltese who stood against enemy action in the Second World War. At the same time the newly built theatre shows an aspiration to preserve past culture with a promise to create and nurture new artistic ideas.