Palais Garnier, Opera house in 9th arrondissement, France
The Palais Garnier is an opera house in the ninth arrondissement of Paris, known for its horseshoe-shaped auditorium and ceiling painting by Marc Chagall. The interior displays wide marble staircases, gilded ornamentation, and red velvet curtains that extend through multiple levels.
Architect Charles Garnier designed this building from 1862 under commission from Napoleon III, and it opened in January 1875. Construction spanned more than a decade, combining stylistic elements of the Second Empire with Beaux-Arts architecture.
The name comes from architect Charles Garnier, and the house is also called Opéra Garnier. Since the Opéra Bastille opened in 1989, the Paris Opera has used this stage mainly for ballet. The building also holds the Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra, run by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and open on unaccompanied tours.
The main entrance faces the Place de l'Opéra at the south end of the Avenue de l'Opéra, served by metro station Opéra and RER line A at Auber. The building is a working theatre, so the auditorium and foyers are seen on guided tours rather than freely; the Paris Opera Library-Museum is included in unaccompanied tours.
A chandelier weighing eight tons hangs from the center of the ceiling and is held by a system of chains. The underground passages and the lake beneath the building inspired Gaston Leroux to write his novel about the phantom.
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