Teatro Colón is considered one of the top five opera houses in the world. Its acoustics are so good that Pavarotti once said the only design flaw is the structure’s ability to reveal a singer’s every mistake. It occupies an entire city block, seating for 2,500, and was, until the Sydney Opera House opened in 1973, the largest theatre in the Southern Hemisphere.

Its design and build were initially undertaken by Italian architect Fransecso Tamburini until his death in 1891. Then when his partner Vittorio Meano was put in charge to complete the building, he was mysteriously murdered, most likely, it’s speculated, as a result of a scandalous love triangle gone wrong… how very ‘tele novella’ or, fittingly, tragic opera!

The Teatro Colón finally opened in 1908 with Verdi’s Aïda and continues since its careful restoration as one of the world’s great performance spaces.

The inside is incredibly opulent and on the grandest of grand scales. I’m afraid to say though that the interior shots I’ve used are not mine (I wish!), as the only way to experience the interior grandeur of this magnificent space is to either attend a performance – which we’re looking into – or tag along with one of the horribly touristy tours during the day. It would as always be so much nicer to be allowed to wander unchaperoned.