In 1907, a time capsule with 24 phonographic recordings of opera singers of the time was buried in the cellar of the opera house.
Work on the building recommenced once the French Army had retaken the city. The group took over Paris with the National Guard following the Franco-Prussian War, and set up a base camp in the unfinished building because of its proximity to Place Vendôme, where the Guard was fighting the French Army. It also kept the water available in case of a fire.Īmong the other real-life events that served to inspire the novel (a chandelier really did fall and kill someone there) is the use of the unfinished opera house by the Paris Commune in 1871 to store food and ammunition. Garnier incorporated a cistern into his design to redistribute the water and relieve the water pressure on the basement walls. When the foundation was being built in 1862, a combination of wells and steam pumps operating 24 hours a day could not keep the groundwater away for long enough to lay the substructure. But originally, it was a purely practical part of Charles Garnier’s opera house design. In the book and hit musical that followed, the cellar serves as the tragic figure’s dark and eerie lair. That tank, which has been referred to as a lake and a lagoon, inspired Gaston Leroux, a crime reporter and theatre and opera critic, to use it as a setting in his classic novel. “The Phantom of the Opera” was based upon this place.
Admire the seven-tonne crystal chandelier, which is shrouded in controversy.Beneath the opera house, Palais Garnier, there sits a water tank, and some folks say that once a man lived there who had no face. Be impressed by the facade with its rose-marble columns, baroque statues, and intricately carved friezes. However, there are still many nooks and crannies to explore in one of the world's largest opera houses. Tourists aren't allowed into the waterways of the Phantom's lair, but considering how it turned out in Leroux's novel, maybe that's for the best.
This gave way to speculations of an eerie subterranean lake under Opéra Garnier. As a solution, a series of cisterns were built to redistribute the water. Take a self-guided tour of the home of the music (of the niiight).įrom swinging chandeliers and a marble imperial staircase to a Grand Foyer and a 2,000-seat auditorium, make like the aristocratic guests of yesteryear and explore Opéra Garnier at your own leisure!Ĭharles Garnier designed the opera house for Emperor Napoleon III, but construction was held up by unusually high groundwater levels. Perhaps the most beautiful opera house in the world, Opéra Garnier is full of history. To everyone else, it's the setting for The Phantom of the Opera. For locals, this opulent opera and ballet house is as much a part of the cultural fabric of the city as Notre Dame, the Louvre, or the Eiffel Tower. Opéra Garnier (or Palais Garnier) is a Parisian icon.
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