Palais Garnier

• Main façade

The main facade is located on the south of the building and overlooks the Place de l'Opéra. The Palais Garnier Architecture is a stunning creation that took 14 painters, mosaicists, and 73 sculptors to just create the main facade. The principal facade is crowned by two gilded figural groups, Charles Gumery's L'Harmonie and La Poésie.

• Stage fly tower

The stage fly tower has sculptural groups which consist of Apollo, Poetry, and Music and is located at the apex of the south gable. Visitors can also look at two small Pegasus fugues at the end of the south gable.

• Pavillon de l'Empereur

These groups are located on the west side and are also known as Rotonde de l'Empereur. Their rooms were actually designed to secure and allow direct access by the Emperor via a double ramp to the building.

• Pavillon des Abonnés

The Pavillon des Abonnés is located at the east of the building and acts as a counterpart to Pavillon de l'Empereur. These rooms were designed to allow subscribers to directly enter from their carriages and enter the interior building. Visitors can also look at the obelisks marked at the entrance.

• Palais Garnier History

Inspired by the famous novel, The Phantom of the Opera, the Palais Garnier History started out with a contest. Napoleon III held a contest where 170 architects submitted a design to construct the great concert hall and among these applications, Charles Garnier was selected to build this iconic opera hall. During the construction, Napoleon made a new avenue that connected the Palais Garnier with the Palais des Tuileries. To make this connection happen, Napoleon III evicted thousands of families and their houses were demolished. The construction started in 1860 and it took 14 painters, Mosaics, and 73 sculptors to finish this work by 1875.

An interesting fact is that the architect was not invited to the inauguration by Napoleon and just like other visitors he had to buy the Palais Garnier Tickets to enter the music hall. Visitors can look at the extravagance of the building even today and the most beautiful part is the Grand Foyer which is made from gold leafing and mosaics.

• The Palais Garnier is also known as Opera Garnier or Opera de Paris.

• One of the most interesting Palais Garnier Facts is that the Opera house once was the primary residential address for Paris Opera and ballet.

• Palais Garnier is known to symbolize the Pristine second empire and the theater was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III.

• To build the Palais Garnier, Napoleon III held an international competition for the construction and among 171 participants. Charles Garnier was selected to construct this iconic Opera hall.

• The Palais Garnier was inaugurated on the 5th Jan 1875 and there was a lavish gala performance on the night of the inauguration attended by the Lord Mayor of London.

• The Opera hall has the capacity to accommodate 1979 people at once and is also known as one of the largest theaters in the world.

• The Pavillon de l’Empereur has stored rich Palais Garnier Facts and history with over 600,000 documents from 1680 periodicals, the place also has an amazing library with 100,000 books, and 100,000 photographs, and paintings, and 10,000 programs.

• One of the most magnificent features of the Palais Garnier is its Grand staircase which is built in the interiors of the mansion and the public can look at this beautiful creation with Palais Garnier Tickets.

• The Auditorium at the Opera house is carved to represent the Horseshoe shape which is an Italian tradition and a huge central stage that has the capacity to accommodate 450 artists at once.