The Paris Opera House

							Title:
The Paris Opera House

Word Count:
406

Summary:
The Paris Opera House is thought to
 be one of the greatest pieces of a
rchitecture of its period. Located
on the northern part of Avenue De L
’Opera in the 9e arrondisement , it
 was founded in 1669 by King Louis
XIV.

The idea of the Opera house was fir
st proposed in the 1858 during the
Second Empire by Baron Haussmann wh
o was granted authorization for the
 project by Napoleon III. About 120
00 square meters of land was cleare
d and a thirty five year old archit
ect by the name o...


Keywords:
paris


Article Body:
The Paris Opera House is thought to
 be one of the greatest pieces of a
rchitecture of its period. Located
on the northern part of Avenue De L
’Opera in the 9e arrondisement , it
 was founded in 1669 by King Louis
XIV.

The idea of the Opera house was fir
st proposed in the 1858 during the
Second Empire by Baron Haussmann wh
o was granted authorization for the
 project by Napoleon III. About 120
00 square meters of land was cleare
d and a thirty five year old archit
ect by the name of Charles Garnier
was chosen to design the Opera House.

In 1861, construction began and 14
years later the building was comple
te. There were a number of signific
ant delays however, first there wer
e issues such as the Paris Commune,
 and the Franco Prussian War and th
en, there was a problem with the lo
cation. The ground was marshy and f
ull of underground water.

For eight months, the site had to u
ndergo constant pumping before the
base could be put down and it was s
aid to have formed an underground r
eservoir. This reservoir became the
 idea behind the setting of “The Ph
antom of the Opera”

On January 15, 1875 marked the open
ing of the Palais Granier (Paris Op
era House). There was a performance
 of La Juive with Fromental Halevy
and excerpts of Les Hugentos with G
aicomo Meyrebeer.

The editor John Norwich of Great Ar
chitecture of the World reports tha
t a contemporary critic thought the
 Opera House looked like “an overlo
aded sideboard” The place is ornate
 and decorated with marble friezes
of various colors.

The interior is filled with gold le
af and velvet. There are cherubs an
d nymphs everywhere. The chandelier
 is over six tons in weight. The ce
iling itself was painted by Marc Ch
agall in 1964. The Opera House is 1
1000 square meters (11844 square fe
et) with a platform that can fit mo
re than 400 artists and there are o
ver 2000 seats for the audience.

The Opera House is now thought to b
e a masterpiece because Garnier had
 made wonderful use of the difficul
t and cramp site. The carriage ramp
s, the steps, the foyers and stairc
ases were both planned and sectione
d with skill and confidence.

Garnier was accused of being overly
 ornate, just like Napoleon and Hau
ssman were criticized of having old
 and imperialist ideas but the crit
ics forget to keep in mind that cit
ies need their grand monuments and
without Napoleon, Garnier, and Haus
sman, Paris could not have been tho
ught of as one of the most beautifu
l cities in the world.