Paris opulence at its best at Opera Garnier

Known by many names over the years, the Opera Garnier is one of Paris's most opulent and extravagant architectural masterpieces

. It was built as the home of the Paris Opera, however following the completion of the Opera Bastille, the Opera has now moved there, leaving the Opera Garnier the venue for mainly ballets.

Commissioned in 1862 by Napolean III to architect and designer Charles Garnier, the building could not be completed until 1875 due to various setbacks. This included the discovery of an underground lake and the collapse of a chandelier within the opera house. In fact these two events later prompted Gaston Leroux to write the ever famous novel Phantom of the Opera. The lake still exists under the opera house.

The building itself is classical Neo-Baroque style at its best. Seating close to 2200 people, the house stage and the rooms beyond can take up to 450 artists. The massive central chandelier weighs close to 6 tons. The interior of the Palais is richly decorated with a grand marble staircase, marble columns and statues. These statues mainly depict Greek mythology deities. Alongside the front of the theatre are bronze busts of famous composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Spontini, and Rossini.

Many restorations, additions and modifications have been made to the opera house enabling new electrical and machinery facilities as well as strengthening of the framework of the building. All this has been done whilst keeping the aura and detail of the building intact. In fact the Opera Garnier has been the example for many a building across the world including the Thomas Jefferson Building and National Opera House of Ukraine.

Visitors should not pass up the opportunity of visiting this marvellous architectural masterpiece and what better way to do so than by taking in a performance at the Opera Garnier. If such a visitor seeks a luxury hotel Paris then none can be as satisfying as the Le Royal Monceau, Paris France which is mainly a suite hotel Paris.

Paris opulence at its best at Opera Garnier

By: Pushpitha Wijesinghe

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