Opera House and masterpiece

The Palais Garnier is the thirteenth theatre to house the Paris Opera since it was founded by Louis XIV in 1669. It was built on the orders of Napoleon III as part of the great Parisian reconstruction project carried out by Baron Haussmann. The project for an opera house was put out to competition and was won by Charles Garnier, an unknown 35-year-old architect. Building work, which lasted fifteen years, from 1860 to 1875, was interrupted by numerous incidents, including the 1870 war, the fall of the Empire and the Commune. The Palais Garnier was inaugurated on 15 January 1875.

The Opera in 9 figures

Surface area: 11,237 m2
Length: 173 m
Maximum width: 125 m
Height from the foundations to Apollo's lyre: 73.6 m
Grand Staircase: 30 m high
Grand Foyer: 18 m high, 54 m long, 13 m wide
Auditorium: 20 m high, 32 m deep, 31 m wide (maximum)
Weight of the chandelier: 8 tonnes
Stage: 60 m high consisting of a 45 m flytower
and a 15 m under-stage area. 27 m deep and 48.5 m wide (proscenium width 16 m).