The Paris Opera House

T he Paris Opera House is                                             thought to be one of the        For eight months, the site had to  greatest pieces of              undergo constant pumping before    architecture of its period.           the base could be put down and it  Located on the northern part of       was said to have formed an         Avenue De L’Opera in the 9e           underground reservoir. This        arrondisement , it was founded in     reservoir became the idea behind   1669 by King Louis XIV.               the setting of “The Phantom of                                           the Opera”                         The idea of the Opera house was                                          first proposed in the 1858 during     On January 15, 1875 marked the     the Second Empire by Baron            opening of the Palais Granier      Haussmann who was granted             (Paris Opera House). There was a   authorization for the project by      performance of La Juive with       Napoleon III. About 12000 square      Fromental Halevy and excerpts of   meters of land was cleared and a      Les Hugentos with Gaicomo          thirty five year old architect by     Meyrebeer.                         the name of Charles Garnier was                                          chosen to design the Opera House.     The editor John Norwich of Great                                         Architecture of the World reports  In 1861, construction began and       that a contemporary critic         14 years later the building was       thought the Opera House looked     complete. There were a number of      like “an overloaded sideboard”     significant delays however, first     The place is ornate and decorated  there were issues such as the         with marble friezes of various     Paris Commune, and the Franco         colors.                            Prussian War and then, there was                                         a problem with the location. The      The interior is filled with gold   ground was marshy and full of         leaf and velvet. There are         underground water.                    cherubs and nymphs everywhere.     The chandelier is over six tons       planned and sectioned with skill   in weight. The ceiling itself was     and confidence.                    painted by Marc Chagall in 1964.                                         The Opera House is 11000 square       Garnier was accused of being       meters (11844 square feet) with a     overly ornate, just like Napoleon  platform that can fit more than       and Haussman were criticized of    400 artists and there are over        having old and imperialist ideas   2000 seats for the audience.          but the critics forget to keep in                                        mind that cities need their grand  The Opera House is now thought to     monuments and without Napoleon,    be a masterpiece because Garnier      Garnier, and Haussman, Paris       had made wonderful use of the         could not have been thought of as  difficult and cramp site. The         one of the most beautiful cities   carriage ramps, the steps, the        in the world.                      foyers and staircases were both        About the Author: Anne Morris writes articles about travel. Discover more information about travel at more-paris.com and sanibeltoday.com. Read more articles by: Anne Morris Article Source: www.iSnare.com