The splendid Palais Garnier on Paris's Place de l'Opéra (map) was designed in Neo-baroque Beaux-Arts style by Charles Garnier and opened in 1875 as the Académie Impériale de Musique.

It was the most expensive of the many magnificent—and highly-decorated—building projects by which Emperor Napoleon III changed the face of Paris.

The original name was changed to Théâtre National de l'Opéra, usually shortened to Paris Opéra, when Napoleon III was deposed after the Franco-Prussian War (1870).

In 1939, the name was changed again by simply replacing "IMPERI" with "NATION" in the entablature on the façade:

Although the Opéra National de Paris has used the modern 2700-seat Opéra Bastille as its principal performance venue since 1989, the Palais Garnier is still what most of us think about when someone says "Paris Opéra," and it is still sometimes used for performances of that art form.

The magnificent building with nearly 2000 seats is still used for glittering evening performances, mostly ballet, which you can attend. It's also open by admission fee for both guided and self-guided tours most days.

(Get a head start on the tour by examining the frighteningly accurate scale model of the Palais Garnier in the Musée d'Orsay.)

Le Palais Garnier
Opéra National de Paris
Place de l'Opéra (rue Scribe & rue Auber) (map)
75009 Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 71 25 24 23

Métro: Opéra, lines 3, 7, 8

RER: line A, station Auber

Bus: lines 20, 21, 22, 27, 29, 42, 52, 53, 66, 68, 81, 95

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