The Beatles at the Teatro Adriano, Rome, June 1965

The Teatro Adriano is an 1898 theatre on Piazza Cavour in Rome's Prati district. On 27 and 28 June 1965 the Beatles played four shows there, their only concerts in Rome. The building now works as a 10-screen cinema. A fan-club plaque for the concerts was reported in 2015, but its current presence is not confirmed.

An opera house turned cinema

The Adriano opened on 1 June 1898 with Ponchielli's La Gioconda. Luigi Rolland designed it, and it was also called the Politeama Adriano. By 1949 it was a cinema, and in 1957 it became the first in Europe equipped for Todd-AO widescreen. Later it was split into a multiplex, now with 10 screens and about 2,290 seats. Accounts differ on when that happened (the 1990s in one, 2000 in another).

When the Beatles came, the single hall held nearly 3,000 people.

Four shows over two days

The band landed at Fiumicino early on Sunday 27 June and checked into the Hotel Parco dei Principi in Parioli. The journalist Gianni Minà went with them around the city, and he drove George Harrison and Ringo Starr in his Fiat 600.

They played at 16:30 and 21:30 on both Sunday and Monday. Peppino di Capri and the Rockers and Fausto Leali and the Novelty were on the bill. Sets ran roughly 20 to 35 minutes, and McCartney introduced songs in Italian. The Beatles left Rome on 29 June, the end of their only tour of Italy, which had opened at Milan's Velodromo Vigorelli.

Why Sunday was half empty

The Sunday shows drew thin crowds. For Monday the organisers lowered ticket prices, and both shows that day filled the hall. One local account says RAI filmed one of the performances, though it gives that only as a report.

The building today

The Adriano still runs as a cinema at Piazza Cavour 22, so the facade can be seen from the square at any hour. It belonged to Massimo Ferrero's cinema circuit, and in January 2025 it was among nine Rome cinemas sold at a judicial auction, reported as still open.

A plaque reported in 2015

A plaque has been reported but not confirmed on site. For the 50th anniversary on 27 June 2015, the Official Beatles Fan Club Pepperland and Ferrero Cinemas held an event at the Adriano with screenings, photographs and memorabilia, and the fan club had plaques fixed at the Adriano and the Vigorelli. The wording and exact location of the Rome plaque are not documented, and it is not known whether it survived the change of owner.