{"id":3834,"date":"2026-09-03T14:51:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/sights\/opera-dei-pupi-turi-grasso-acireale-theatre-museum-visit\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T14:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:52:17","slug":"museo-pupi-acireale","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/sights\/museo-pupi-acireale\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso (Acireale): Theatre, Museum &amp; Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ts-wxbar\"><div class=\"ts-wx ts-wx--ph\" data-ts-ort=\"acireale\" data-ts-fc=\"\" data-ts-titel=\"\"><span class=\"ts-wx__loading\">Wetter wird geladen \u2026<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"ts-verdict\"><strong>In short:<\/strong> The <strong>Teatro-Museo Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso<\/strong> near Acireale is a house built by a single man &ndash; the stage, the puppets, the backdrops, even the fresco on the wall. Here stands the <strong>banco di manovra<\/strong>, the manoeuvring bridge above the stage: the Acireale invention of the 1920s that is almost everywhere wrongly credited to the Catania school. Important: the company&rsquo;s website is visibly from around 2008 &ndash; <strong>confirm times and admission by phone beforehand<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Quick Facts<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"ts-facts\">\n<li><strong>Type:<\/strong> theatre and museum of a puparo family, in one building<\/li>\n<li><strong>Address:<\/strong> Via Nazionale per Catania 195, Acireale &ndash; the Capomulini district, not in the historic centre<\/li>\n<li><strong>Operator:<\/strong> private, family-run (puparo Turi Grasso and family) &ndash; <strong>not a regional-museum house<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Admission:<\/strong> the website states free admission &ndash; <strong>but the page dates from around 2008<\/strong>, please ask<\/li>\n<li><strong>Opening:<\/strong> per the website, Wed, Sat, Sun (summer 9am&ndash;12pm and 6&ndash;9pm, winter 9am&ndash;12pm and 3&ndash;6pm) &ndash; <strong>contradictory, please call<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Shows:<\/strong> summer (Jul&ndash;Sep) Thu and Sun 9pm; otherwise cycles or by request<\/li>\n<li><strong>Special feature:<\/strong> the <strong>banco di manovra<\/strong> &ndash; a manoeuvring bridge 140cm above the stage<\/li>\n<li><strong>Acireale-type Pupi:<\/strong> approx. 120cm, 15&ndash;18kg &ndash; deliberately smaller than the Catania type (140&ndash;150cm, 20&ndash;30kg)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don&rsquo;t confuse:<\/strong> Teatro Macr&igrave; is a different place; operadeipupi.it leads to Palermo<\/li>\n<li><strong>Info:<\/strong> +39 095 7648035 &middot; mobile 347 8061464 &middot; info@operadeipupi.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2>Why the Visit Is Worth It<\/h2>\n<p>The story of this house begins with an insult.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Turi Grasso<\/strong> came at sixteen to the theatre of <strong>Emanuele Macr&igrave;<\/strong>, Acireale&rsquo;s most significant puparo. He became his assistant, operated the puppets, restored them, and toured Europe with the company &ndash; through Belgium, all the way to the court of King Baudouin, through Switzerland, Germany and to Milan. Thirteen years.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of 1963 he struck out on his own. The trigger, as the company itself tells it, was Macr&igrave;&rsquo;s mockery in Sicilian dialect: <em>you&rsquo;re crazy if you think you can build puppets and a theatre on your own account.<\/em> Grasso then built exactly that &ndash; puppets, scenes, stage and the manoeuvring bridge, with the support of his wife Venera.<\/p>\n<p>What came of it now stands on Via Nazionale: a <strong>teatro-museo built by one hand<\/strong>. The collection shows the best work of fifty years, plus Pupi and memorabilia from the late 19th century, stage backdrops in the Catania style, heads and equipment of the Acireale theatre &ndash; and the fresco of the Archangel Michael, which Grasso painted himself.<\/p>\n<p>A detail the company itself notes: Turi Grasso is registered with the Catania Chamber of Commerce as a marionettist, puppet-maker and restorer &ndash; with the remark that <strong>there is no official professional category called &ldquo;puparo&rdquo; at the national level<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The Banco di Manovra &ndash; the Acireale Invention<\/h2>\n<p>Anyone reading about the Opera dei Pupi quickly comes across the claim that the Catania school is operated &ldquo;from a bridge behind the stage.&rdquo; <strong>That&rsquo;s imprecise &ndash; and here is the proof.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <strong>banco di manovra<\/strong>, the manoeuvring bridge, is an <strong>Acireale invention of the 1920s<\/strong>. It was invented by <strong>Mariano Pennisi<\/strong>, known as &ldquo;Nasca,&rdquo; and developed further by his adopted son <strong>Emanuele Macr&igrave;<\/strong>. It is a wooden beam above the stage frame, <strong>140 centimetres above the stage floor<\/strong>: the pupari stand on it, that is, <em>above<\/em> their puppets, and operate them with especially long iron rods. That allows movements of great amplitude.<\/p>\n<p>The second trick: the Acireale puparo placed the <strong>stage backdrop behind the bridge<\/strong> rather than in front of it. That produced a new stage perspective, more figures that could be operated at once &ndash; and the fencing choreography known as the <strong><em>danza delle spade<\/em><\/strong>, the sword dance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And they explicitly distanced themselves from Catania:<\/strong> there, operation was &ldquo;rather bound and laborious because of the great mass of the Pupi,&rdquo; as the company writes. So the Acireale puparo reduced height and weight.<\/p>\n<table class=\"ts-decision-matrix\">\n<thead><tr><th><\/th><th>Palermo<\/th><th>Catania<\/th><th>Acireale<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Height<\/td><td>approx. 70&ndash;80 cm<\/td><td>140&ndash;150 cm<\/td><td><strong>approx. 120 cm<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Weight<\/td><td>6&ndash;7 kg<\/td><td>20&ndash;30 kg<\/td><td><strong>15&ndash;18 kg<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Knees<\/td><td>flexible<\/td><td>rigid<\/td><td>rigid<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Sword<\/td><td>interchangeable<\/td><td>fixed in the fist<\/td><td>fixed in the fist<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Operated<\/td><td>from the sides<\/td><td>from above<\/td><td><strong>from above, from the banco di manovra<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>The reasoning behind it:<\/strong> the rigid knees are not a matter of style but a consequence of weight &ndash; at 6 to 7 kilos a puparo can hold the figure for a long time and needs joints; at 25 kilos, rigid legs take the strain off. And the sword fixed in the fist of the eastern school comes from the fact that <strong>the duel is central<\/strong> to the repertoire &ndash; unlike in the west, where the material ranges from epic to social scenes to classical themes.<\/p>\n<p>For context: <strong>UNESCO recognises two<\/strong> main Sicilian schools, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/sights\/museo-marionette-pasqualino-palermo\/\">Palermo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/sehenswuerdigkeiten\/museo-pupi-napoli-catania\/\">Catania<\/a>. Acireale is not a third school, but the most distinctive sharpening of the eastern one &ndash; and its own trademark is usually credited to Catania of all places.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Who Is This Museum For?<\/h2>\n<table class=\"ts-decision-matrix\">\n<thead><tr><th>Criterion<\/th><th>Well suited<\/th><th>Limitations<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Anyone wanting to understand the technique<\/td><td>the original manoeuvring bridge stands here<\/td><td>&ndash;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Families<\/td><td>summer show Thu and Sun at 9pm<\/td><td>9pm is late for young children<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Summer travellers<\/td><td>a fixed schedule July to September<\/td><td>&ndash;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Travellers outside summer<\/td><td>cycles and shows on request<\/td><td>no fixed schedule<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>With a rental car<\/td><td>location on the national road, outside the old town<\/td><td>parking situation undocumented<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Spontaneous visitors<\/td><td>&ndash;<\/td><td>opening hours contradictory &ndash; call ahead<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Anyone wanting a tour and a manoeuvring demonstration<\/td><td>possible &ndash; including meeting the puparo<\/td><td>by advance booking only<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<h2>Opening Hours and Admission: Why We Don&rsquo;t Commit<\/h2>\n<p>The company&rsquo;s website gives clear figures: open <strong>year-round on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays<\/strong>, in summer 9am to 12pm and 6 to 9pm, in winter 9am to 12pm and 3 to 6pm &ndash; and <strong>free admission<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We don&rsquo;t present that as fact.<\/strong> The site is visibly old: built with Microsoft FrontPage, with a copyright notice of <strong>2008<\/strong> in the footer. An opening-hours portal also names entirely different times. Nobody would take a claimed free admission that no longer applies in 2026 as a mere typo &ndash; it would annoy visitors on the spot. So: <strong>call ahead, 095 7648035.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What is certain: <strong>guided tours, a manoeuvring demonstration and meeting the puparo are available by advance booking only.<\/strong> And regional-museum rules don&rsquo;t apply here &ndash; the house is private. The logos of the Regione Siciliana, the city of Acireale and UNESCO on the homepage denote patronage, not ownership.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Shows<\/h2>\n<p><strong>In summer<\/strong> &ndash; July, August, September &ndash; the company states a show every <strong>Thursday and Sunday at 9pm<\/strong>. <strong>Outside summer<\/strong>, performances run in cycles or on request: for travellers, groups, conferences, school classes and public institutions, in the house&rsquo;s own theatre or at any suitable venue, at home or abroad.<\/p>\n<p>Documented, for instance, are autumn cycles in November with pieces like <em>Dama Rovenza<\/em> and <em>Martuffo nella fossa infernale<\/em>, as well as spring series titled <em>Domenica al Teatro<\/em>. <strong>The company does not state prices for shows<\/strong> &ndash; please ask about this too. The same age caveat as above applies to the summer times.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>The teatro-museo is at <strong>Via Nazionale per Catania 195<\/strong>, in the <strong>Capomulini<\/strong> district &ndash; that is, on the national road and <strong>not in Acireale&rsquo;s baroque old town<\/strong>. The company itself describes the location as &ldquo;near the Hotel La Perla Jonica.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In practice, that is more of an advantage: unlike in Catania or Ortigia, there is likely no ZTL issue here &ndash; though we cannot document that, nor the parking situation. We therefore assert nothing. More on the region: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/places\/catania\/\">Catania<\/a>; more generally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/nahverkehr-sizilien\/\">Buses &amp; trains in Sicily<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/car-rental-sicily\/\">Car rental in Sicily<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On accessibility, photography rules and visit duration<\/strong>, there is no source. We therefore state nothing.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Best Time to Visit and Common Mistakes<\/h2>\n<p>In summer there is a fixed schedule, otherwise cycles and shows on request. The most common mistakes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Turning up without calling.<\/strong> The website&rsquo;s opening hours date from around 2008 and contradict other sources.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Counting on free admission.<\/strong> The website says so &ndash; but on the same outdated page.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Looking for the Teatro Macr&igrave;.<\/strong> That is a different, separate venue in Acireale. A related tradition, a different house.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Visiting operadeipupi.it.<\/strong> That is Palermo. Acireale is operadeipupi.com. A wrong booking link sends you 200 kilometres away.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hoping for a show outside summer.<\/strong> Then it&rsquo;s only cycles or on request.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Looking for the house in central Acireale.<\/strong> It is on the national road in Capomulini.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a seasonal overview, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/best-time-to-visit-sicily\/\">Best Time to Visit Sicily<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Nearby<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/places\/acireale\/\">Acireale<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; the baroque centre with its cathedral and famous carnival, a few kilometres away.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Riviera dei Ciclopi<\/strong> &ndash; the coast with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/sights\/aci-trezza-aci-castello\/\">Aci Trezza and Aci Castello<\/a> and the Faraglioni, the Cyclops&rsquo; rocks.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/sehenswuerdigkeiten\/museo-pupi-napoli-catania\/\">Fratelli Napoli in Catania<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; the great Catania company that Acireale explicitly compares itself to.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/places\/catania\/\">Catania<\/a><\/strong> and Etna &ndash; both within reach.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/sights\/museo-marionette-pasqualino-palermo\/\">Museo Pasqualino in Palermo<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; the western counterpart, if you want to compare the schools.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ts-faq\">\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>What does admission cost?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>The company&rsquo;s website states free admission. We don&rsquo;t present that as fact, though: the page is visibly old &ndash; it was built with Microsoft FrontPage and carries a 2008 copyright notice in the footer. A claimed free admission that no longer applies in 2026 would be an annoying error. Call ahead: 095 7648035.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>When is the teatro-museo open?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>The company states on its website Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays &ndash; in summer 9am to 12pm and 6 to 9pm, in winter 9am to 12pm and 3 to 6pm. An opening-hours portal, however, names completely different times. We cannot resolve the contradiction, especially since the operator&rsquo;s page dates from around 2008. Calling ahead is the only reliable approach here.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>Do Sicily&rsquo;s regional-museum rules apply here?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>No. The teatro-museo was built entirely by puparo Turi Grasso and his family and is run by them &ndash; it is a private house. The logos of the Regione Siciliana, the city of Acireale and UNESCO on the homepage denote patronage and context, not ownership. There is therefore no free first Sunday and no age-tier discount under the regional standard.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>When are the shows?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>In summer &ndash; July, August, September &ndash; per their own information, every Thursday and Sunday at 9pm. Outside summer, shows run in cycles or on request: the company performs for travellers, groups, conferences, school classes and public institutions, in its own theatre or elsewhere. Documented, for instance, are autumn cycles in November and spring series. The website&rsquo;s age caveat applies here too &ndash; ask in advance.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>Do the museum and the theatre belong together?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>Yes, it&rsquo;s one building. Turi Grasso built it himself: the museum room and the stage with the typical Acireale manoeuvring bridge are in the same building, along with a fresco of the Archangel Michael that Grasso also painted himself.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>Were Macr&igrave; and Turi Grasso the same family?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>No &ndash; this is a common mix-up. Emanuele Macr&igrave; was Acireale&rsquo;s most significant puparo; Turi Grasso came to his theatre at 16, became his assistant, operator and puppet restorer, and toured Europe with the Compagnia Macr&igrave;. At the end of 1963 he went independent &ndash; triggered, among other things, by Macr&igrave;&rsquo;s mockery that he was crazy to think he could build puppets and a theatre on his own account. That is exactly what he then did. The Teatro Macr&igrave; is a different, separate venue in Acireale.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>What is the banco di manovra?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>The manoeuvring bridge &ndash; and it is the Acireale invention par excellence. A wooden beam above the stage, 140 centimetres above the stage floor, from which the pupari stand above the puppets and operate them with especially long iron rods. It was invented in the 1920s by Mariano Pennisi, known as Nasca, and developed further by Emanuele Macr&igrave;. The Acireale puparo also placed the stage backdrop behind the bridge rather than in front of it &ndash; producing a new perspective, more figures operable at once, and the fencing choreography known as the danza delle spade.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>Are the Acireale Pupi like the Catania ones?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>Similar, but deliberately smaller. Catania-type Pupi measure 140 to 150 centimetres and weigh 20 to 30 kilos. The Acireale puparo reduced them to around 120 centimetres and 15 to 18 kilos &ndash; explicitly to distinguish themselves from Catania, where operation was considered cumbersome because of the size. The rigid knees and the sword fixed in the fist remained. So if you read that the bridge is a Catania feature: it isn&rsquo;t, it&rsquo;s from Acireale.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>How big is the collection?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>It shows the best work from Turi Grasso&rsquo;s fifty years of activity, plus Pupi and memorabilia from the late 19th century, stage backdrops in the Catania style, heads and stage equipment of the Acireale Pupi theatre. Add to that the hand-painted announcement posters for the Paladins&rsquo; episodes, the stage curtain, the platform with the manoeuvring bridge, and the fresco of the Archangel Michael.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<details class=\"ts-faq__item\"><summary>Watch out with the website &ndash; which one is correct?<\/summary><div class=\"ts-faq__a\"><p>A real trap: operadeipupi with the .com ending is Turi Grasso in Acireale. Operadeipupi with the .it ending is the Marionette Museum Pasqualino in Palermo. Anyone who gets the wrong address and books there ends up 200 kilometres away.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ts-offer\">\n<h3>The Riviera dei Ciclopi<\/h3>\n<p>Acireale, the Cyclops&rsquo; coast, Catania and Etna sit close together and make up their own, calm stretch of a trip &ndash; we put it together and book the accommodation. Just send us a no-obligation travel request.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ts-offer__cta\" href=\"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/reise-anfragen\/\">Request your trip now<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Sources &amp; Updates<\/h2>\n<p>Ownership, address, history, the collection, the technique of the banco di manovra, and the dimensions and weights of the Pupi follow the website of the Compagnia Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso (operadeipupi.com); documentation of autumn and spring cycles follows the event archive of the Opera dei Pupi network and notices from the Museo Pasqualino; the UNESCO status of the Opera dei Pupi (proclaimed 2001, inscribed on the Representative List 2008) and the statement on the two main Sicilian schools follow the primary source ich.unesco.org. As of: 17 July 2026. Explicitly flagged with a caveat: opening hours and the free admission stated by the company &ndash; the website is visibly from around 2008 and is contradicted by other sources. Undocumented and therefore left open: show prices, parking options, ZTL status, accessibility, photography rules and visit duration. The weight figures also vary even within the operator&rsquo;s own source, which is why we give ranges rather than point values. Admission and opening hours are time-dependent and should be checked before your visit.<\/p>\n\n\n{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@graph&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;BreadcrumbList&#8221;,&#8221;itemListElement&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ListItem&#8221;,&#8221;position&#8221;:1,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Home&#8221;,&#8221;item&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/&#8221;},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ListItem&#8221;,&#8221;position&#8221;:2,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Sights in Sicily&#8221;,&#8221;item&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/sights\/&#8221;},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ListItem&#8221;,&#8221;position&#8221;:3,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso&#8221;,&#8221;item&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/sights\/museo-pupi-acireale\/&#8221;}]},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Museum&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Teatro-Museo Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso&#8221;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;Theatre and museum of puparo Turi Grasso in Acireale, Capomulini district, built entirely by him and his family. Shows Pupi, stage backdrops and equipment of the Acireale Pupi theatre, plus the banco di manovra, the manoeuvring bridge above the stage \u2013 an Acireale invention of the 1920s. A private family business.&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/sights\/museo-pupi-acireale\/&#8221;,&#8221;inLanguage&#8221;:&#8221;en&#8221;,&#8221;touristType&#8221;:[&#8220;Families&#8221;,&#8221;Culture travelers&#8221;],&#8221;address&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;PostalAddress&#8221;,&#8221;streetAddress&#8221;:&#8221;Via Nazionale per Catania 195&#8243;,&#8221;addressLocality&#8221;:&#8221;Acireale&#8221;,&#8221;postalCode&#8221;:&#8221;95024&#8243;,&#8221;addressRegion&#8221;:&#8221;Sicily&#8221;,&#8221;addressCountry&#8221;:&#8221;IT&#8221;},&#8221;telephone&#8221;:&#8221;+39 095 7648035&#8243;,&#8221;email&#8221;:&#8221;info@operadeipupi.com&#8221;},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;FAQPage&#8221;,&#8221;mainEntity&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;What does admission cost?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;The company&#8217;s website states free admission. We don&#8217;t present that as fact, though: the page is visibly old \u2013 it was built with Microsoft FrontPage and carries a 2008 copyright notice in the footer. A claimed free admission that no longer applies in 2026 would be an annoying error. Call ahead: 095 7648035.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;When is the teatro-museo open?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;The company states on its website Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays \u2013 in summer 9am to 12pm and 6 to 9pm, in winter 9am to 12pm and 3 to 6pm. An opening-hours portal, however, names completely different times. We cannot resolve the contradiction, especially since the operator&#8217;s page dates from around 2008. Calling ahead is the only reliable approach here.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Do Sicily&#8217;s regional-museum rules apply here?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;No. The teatro-museo was built entirely by puparo Turi Grasso and his family and is run by them \u2013 it is a private house. The logos of the Regione Siciliana, the city of Acireale and UNESCO on the homepage denote patronage and context, not ownership. There is therefore no free first Sunday and no age-tier discount under the regional standard.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;When are the shows?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;In summer \u2013 July, August, September \u2013 per their own information, every Thursday and Sunday at 9pm. Outside summer, shows run in cycles or on request: the company performs for travellers, groups, conferences, school classes and public institutions, in its own theatre or elsewhere. Documented, for instance, are autumn cycles in November and spring series. The website&#8217;s age caveat applies here too \u2013 ask in advance.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Do the museum and the theatre belong together?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;Yes, it&#8217;s one building. Turi Grasso built it himself: the museum room and the stage with the typical Acireale manoeuvring bridge are in the same building, along with a fresco of the Archangel Michael that Grasso also painted himself.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Were Macr\u00ec and Turi Grasso the same family?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;No \u2013 this is a common mix-up. Emanuele Macr\u00ec was Acireale&#8217;s most significant puparo; Turi Grasso came to his theatre at 16, became his assistant, operator and puppet restorer, and toured Europe with the Compagnia Macr\u00ec. At the end of 1963 he went independent \u2013 triggered, among other things, by Macr\u00ec&#8217;s mockery that he was crazy to think he could build puppets and a theatre on his own account. That is exactly what he then did. The Teatro Macr\u00ec is a different, separate venue in Acireale.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;What is the banco di manovra?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;The manoeuvring bridge \u2013 and it is the Acireale invention par excellence. A wooden beam above the stage, 140 centimetres above the stage floor, from which the pupari stand above the puppets and operate them with especially long iron rods. It was invented in the 1920s by Mariano Pennisi, known as Nasca, and developed further by Emanuele Macr\u00ec. The Acireale puparo also placed the stage backdrop behind the bridge rather than in front of it \u2013 producing a new perspective, more figures operable at once, and the fencing choreography known as the danza delle spade.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Are the Acireale Pupi like the Catania ones?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;Similar, but deliberately smaller. Catania-type Pupi measure 140 to 150 centimetres and weigh 20 to 30 kilos. The Acireale puparo reduced them to around 120 centimetres and 15 to 18 kilos \u2013 explicitly to distinguish themselves from Catania, where operation was considered cumbersome because of the size. The rigid knees and the sword fixed in the fist remained. So if you read that the bridge is a Catania feature: it isn&#8217;t, it&#8217;s from Acireale.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;How big is the collection?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;It shows the best work from Turi Grasso&#8217;s fifty years of activity, plus Pupi and memorabilia from the late 19th century, stage backdrops in the Catania style, heads and stage equipment of the Acireale Pupi theatre. Add to that the hand-painted announcement posters for the Paladins&#8217; episodes, the stage curtain, the platform with the manoeuvring bridge, and the fresco of the Archangel Michael.&#8221;}},{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Question&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Watch out with the website \u2013 which one is correct?&#8221;,&#8221;acceptedAnswer&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Answer&#8221;,&#8221;text&#8221;:&#8221;A real trap: operadeipupi with the .com ending is Turi Grasso in Acireale. Operadeipupi with the .it ending is the Marionette Museum Pasqualino in Palermo. Anyone who gets the wrong address and books there ends up 200 kilometres away.&#8221;}}]}]}\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In short: The Teatro-Museo Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso near Acireale is a house built by a single man &ndash; the stage, the puppets, the backdrops, even the fresco on the wall. Here stands the banco di manovra, the manoeuvring bridge above the stage: the Acireale invention of the 1920s that is almost everywhere wrongly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3675,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3834","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3835,"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3834\/revisions\/3835"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treffpunkt-sizilien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}