The Opéra Garnier or Palais Garnier, still known to many as the "Paris Opera," was the world's largest theatre and opera house when it opened on January 5, 1875. The cavernous building, designed by Charles Garnier, was one of 171 proposals submitted in an architectural competition in 1861. The Palais Garnier took 14 years to build, with its completion being delayed by money troubles, the Franco-Prussian War (when the building was used as a warehouse), and a fire that gutted the interior and killed a fireman in 1873.

The Palais Garnier wasn't an immediate hit with critics or with the public: Its Second Empire grandiosity was considered over the top by some. Empress Eugénie, wife of the third Napoleon, is reported to have asked Garnier: "Whatever is this style? It's not a style! It's neither Greek, nor Louis XVI, nor even Louis XV!" Garnier is said to have replied, "No, those styles are outdated. It's Napoleon III. And you complain?"

Whatever the building's style, it was well-suited to opera, where architectural excess goes hand in hand with extravagant costumes, florid music, and the oversized egos of singers and wealthy opera patrons. Today, however, opera (in the tradition of Elvis) has left the building: The Opéra Garnier is now used mostly for ballet and modern dance, with grand opera taking place at the modern Opéra Bastille, which opened in 1989.

Ticket offices:

Place de l'Opéra.  Mon-Sat: 11AM - 6.30PM
Tel: +33 (1) 44 73 13 00
mail booking:
Opéra National de Paris
Relations avec le Public
120, Rue de Lyon
75 576 Paris, Cedex 12 France

Ticket prices:

Category 1  590
Category 2  470
Category 3  315
Category 4  210
Category 5  130
Category 6   60

Capacity:
2156 seats