Just about 3 km away from my lakeside cottages on Lake Neusiedl—and even within direct sight (since it’s up on the “mountain”)—lies the Sankt Margarethen Quarry, which has been a popular opera venue for nearly 30 years. It’s a lovely bike ride to get there, and after the opera, the route is almost entirely downhill back to the stilt houses. There’s also a unique shuttle service in the form of an authentic London double-decker bus, which departs directly from the lakeshore where the stilt houses .
The opera stage in the Sankt Margarethen quarry, which has been very popular for many years, will present Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida” this year, 2024. The original plot can easily be transposed from the Nile in Egypt to Lake Neusiedl—not because there are reeds there just like there are there 😉
Wikipedia reveals that this opera was the opening ceremony for the Suez Canal in 1879. Here, too, there’s a connection to the almost equally famous “Einser” Canal on Lake Neusiedl 😉
Also interesting: the Romans were already extracting stones from this quarry 2,000 years ago to build Carnuntum.
Of course, you can find more detailed information directly on Wikipedia https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida_(Oper) and on the opera house’s own website: https://www.operimsteinbruch.at
Photos: Opera in the Quarry, (c) the respective photographer (named in the image caption)
