"Catch an opera performance If you get a chance to book seats for a night at the opera in Florence , grab it! The city has a new opera house, the Opera di Firenze, a €150 million theatre complex near the Cascine Park. Opera was born in this city when Jacopo Peri’s ‘Dafne’, was performed at Palazzo Corsi on Via Tornabuoni in 1598, and has always played an important part in cultural life here. The soaring cubic complex constructed on a plot near the Cascine Park was designed by Paolo Desideri twinkles from within at night: It houses a handsome 2,000-seater opera theatre equipped with state-of-the-art stage equipment, a yet-to-be-inaugurated second auditorium and an outdoor amphitheater for summer performances. Try and catch a performance of something Italian, maybe some Puccini, Bellini or Verdi. The Florentines do it very well!"