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Discover the Palais Garnier, Paris Opéra House, symbol of Lyric Art and Ballet, with its famous ceiling painted by Chagall... and you might even see the Phantom... of the Opera!
The Palais Garnier is most noted for the Chagall ceiling (1964)... but also for being the home of the "Phantom of the Opera" in the eponymous novel, and musical!
Will you see the infamous flooded basement where the Phantom lived? Probably not, as the basement is indeed flooded by an underground lake. But you will see the famous - and beautiful - chandelier!
The Palais Garnier is the thirteenth theatre to house the Paris Opera since it was founded by Louis XIV in 1669. It was built on the orders of Napoleon III as part of the great Parisian reconstruction project carried out by Baron Haussmann. The project for an opera house was put out to competition and was won by Charles Garnier, an unknown 35-year-old architect. Building work, which lasted fifteen years, from 1860 to 1875, was interrupted by numerous incidents, including the 1870 war, the fall of the Empire and the Commune. The Palais Garnier was inaugurated on 15 January 1875.
With the opening of the Opera Bastille in 1989 (200 years after Bastille Day!), the Palais Garnier became mostly a theater for dance. The Paris Opera Ballet performs here, as well as visiting dance companies.
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