Toulon Opera, Opera house in Toulon, France

The Toulon Opera is a neoclassical opera house on Place Victor Hugo, with a second entrance on Boulevard de Strasbourg. Its north facade carries six statues by Toulon sculptor Pierre-Marius Montagne: Euterpe, Terpsichore, Melpomène, Thalie, Calliope and Polymnie. The building covers about 2,000 m² and seats 1,797 people on five levels.

Architect Léon Feuchère designed this theater in the early 1860s as a replacement for an older hall, with construction beginning in 1860 and finishing in 1862. The building arose during a period when French cities were modernizing their cultural institutions with new structures.

The house opened on 1 October 1862 with Fromental Halévy's comic opera Les Mousquetaires de la reine, followed days later by his La Juive. Since 1 January 2003 the Métropole Toulon Provence Méditerranée has run it, and the company, directed by Jérôme Brunetière, gives about eight operas a season in Toulon, Avignon, Nice and Marseille.

The opera has two entrances: the south door on Place Victor Hugo (Place du Théâtre) opens for spectators during performances, while the north side faces Boulevard de Strasbourg. The house seats 1,797 people on five levels, and the steeply raked stage can be a constraint for dancers and actors performing on it.

The building features an unusual stage design with a slope of approximately seven percent that improves sight lines for audiences. This technical detail makes it one of France's most distinctive theater designs.