Description - Architect: Jean-Louis Charles Garnier (1825-1898)
- Owner: République Française (Republic of France)
- Cost at Completion: 36,000,000 (gold Francs)
- Napoleon III commissioned in 1958, for a grand opera house to be built for Paris. By 1860, a competition including 171 architects was created. The design of Charles Garnier was chosen unanimously.
- The design of the opera house was inspired by that of the Grand Theatre in Bordeaux, and French and Italian villas of the 17th and 18th centuries.
- There theatre was to serve more as a social hall than anything else. This is shown in the size of the theatre compared to the passage, halls, and staircases which are larger than the theatre itself.
- The legend that the opera sits atop an underground lake is not completely unfounded. During construction, the buildings came upon a rather high water table, that had to be drained.
- Surprisingly, this grand theatre only seats 2,200 persons.
- This opera house is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Paris Opera House, but the city has duel opera houses, including the Opera Bastille.
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