La Fenice: The Phoenix of Venice

After a fire devastated Venice's opera house in 1774, La Fenice was built to replace the theatre. In 1836, Venice once again lost it's theatre, when La Fenice was destroyed by fire. Within a year, La Fenice was resurrected and remained the centerpiece of Venitian culture for for almost 160 years.

In 1996, fire struck again, this time arson, and La Fenice was completely consumed; reduced to burning embers and charred stone. Years went by as parties angled for control of the recontruction and red tape stalled progress. Finally, in 2002, 6 years and 90 million Euros later, La Fenice was reopened.

And we got to see it on our trip.