Speaking about the most famous opera house in Europe, one can't but recall the sad story of Antonio Salieri. With great enthusiasm, he wrote the opera "Europa riconosciuta" in 1778 at the opening of the first season of the La Scala. The opening of the seasons in the theater falls on December 7, the day of Sant'Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan. Opera Salieri was not performed in La Scala until December 7, 2004, when the theater was reopened after reconstruction. It was either that the bad fame of Salieri, unreasonably created by Pushkin in the little tragedy of Mozart and Salieri, played a cruel joke or the other operas were more interesting and gathered the audience - it is not clear, but the score for the opening of the 2004 season had to be created from scratch, based on ancient manuscripts. La Scala owes its birth, oddly enough, to the fire that utterly burned the old theater of Milan, and the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa commanded the construction of a new one. For this purpose, they chose the place of the dilapidated old church "St. Mary on the stairs." So thanks to Mary and the name Scala remained from the stairs. Funds for the construction were raised through the sale of lodges, and the owners of lodge No. 13 wished to remain anonymous and covered their entire lodge with mirrors - apparently not to jinx it. Despite the great importance of the theater, it is not difficult to notice that its appearance is not particularly impressive. Sometimes it can even cause frustration and bewilderment. But, let's recall that the theater was built half a century before the square in front of it. It was built at a time when Austria ruled Milan, and a magnificent square appeared as an expression of the grandeur and splendor of independent Italy. Therefore, the architecture of La Scala Square surpasses the architecture of the theater, which gave the square its name.