The Opera Garnier in Paris inspired the writer Gaston Leroux, author of the famous novel “The Phantom of the Opera.”

The Garnier Opera House, also known as Palais Garnier, is especially striking in the ninth district of the city and is near the Opera Bastille, the public institution called “the Paris National Opera.”

Construction of the palace fell within the policy of restructuring in Paris conducted by Baron Haussmann in the mid-nineteenth century. Napoleon III decided to build a “Imperial Academy of Music and Dance” and this is called an international competition, which gave the winner among more than 170 projects submitted, a young architect almost unknown in Paris: Charles Garnier.

The irregular shape of the land used for building Haussmann and the proximity of tall buildings around were quite difficult to work in the play, which lasted from 1860-1875, was inaugurated on January 15 of that year with great pomp .

Many vicissitudes faced by the evolution of the great work, including the shallow water table that caused many problems when making foundations. This problem gave birth to the legend about the existence of an underground lake, he wisely knew how to use Gaston Leroux’s famous novel “The Phantom of the Opera.”

During construction, Napoleon III asked Haussmann opened a great avenue to join the opera with the Tuileries Palace, where he resided. This required the expropriation and demolition of a whole district and the Avenue of the Opera was completed in 1879, four years after the inauguration of the Opera. The Avenue of the Opera, then, is the only major hub designed by Haussmann no real value.
Thereafter, the avenue would be lined with bourgeois homes, luxury shops, banks and insurance company headquarters.

Budgetary problems because of conflicts with Germany, the fall of the empire in 1870 and the events of the Paris Commune in 1871 significantly delayed the opening, and even parts were inconclusive. It is said that Charles Garnier was invited to the opening and must pay their entry and occupy a secondary stage, a fact that expresses the rejection of the new authorities to those who had served the emperor, who in turn could never travel the only avenue open to him. ..

Richly decorated, the Palais Garnier shines both outside and inside. Garnier called fourteen painters and sculptors mosaicists and 73 for the ornamentation of the palace. The impressive marble staircase is undoubtedly the most attractive spot, which was held at the time of social representation, where the bourgeoisie likes to show his wife’s arm. The foyers, space dedicated to walk in the intervals, are also richly decorated with mosaics on gold ground, and were designed by Garnier in the style of French grand palaces such as the Palace of Versailles. Also noteworthy is the Hall of the glacier, which was completed after the inauguration, with its ceiling painted by Clairin. The theater, in red and gold and ceiling painted by Chagall, has a horseshoe shape and is illuminated by an immense crystal chandelier. His 1900 seats are trimmed in red velvet and is no less impressive the huge curtain that covers the stage.

At the Opera Garnier, and part of the National Library of France, is the Library-Museum of the Opera that preserves the history of the opera three centuries costumes, models of sets, sheet music, drawings and paintings that evoke the musical life of Paris.