Going out the Cortile degli Svizzeri (the Room of the Swiss) eastwards and walking straight across Piazza Napoleone, we arrive to Piazza del Giglio where we can admire the statue of Garibaldi (in the middle), built by the sculptor Urbano Lucchesi in 1889. On the right to the South of the square there is the Teatro del Giglio, the only "survivor" of all the theatres which were in Lucca in the 19th century.

The Teatro del Giglio was built by the architect Giovanni Lazzarini (1817) on the rests of the ancient town theatre of S. Girolamo, constructed in 1675 (at the opening night was performed the "Hannibal from Capua" by Pietro Andrea Ziani). The neoclassical façade has half-pillars and a three-cornered gable and is embellished with bas-reliefs, depicting music instruments.

The interior, which was probably first decorated by Catani, is today very different, because its design became more modern after a lot of restorations (involving also the "Ridotto", that is the foyer).

The name of the Teatro del Giglio originates from the flower inside the coat of arms of the Borbone family, which was the author of its rebirth through Maria Luisa. The theatre was opened at the beginning of the 19th century, performing operas by Simone Mayr, Gioacchino Rossini and Francesco Schoberlechner.

This was the best period for the Teatro del Giglio, so that it disputed the most famous opera companies with the Scala (the theatre of Milan) and the "S. Carlo" (the theatre of Neaples).