Practical information<\/strong><\/p>\n Commissioned by Napoleon III as part of his major renovation of Paris<\/strong>, the Op\u00e9ra Garnier remains Europe’s largest opera house. <\/strong>\u00a0It is therefore a stunning example of Second Empire art and architecture. The site has inspired numerous novels over the years, the most famous of which is undoubtedly Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera<\/strong> \u2013 during your tour you’ll experience its powerful atmosphere, both dramatic and mysterious.<\/p>\n The tour starts at the subscriber’s rotunda<\/strong>, built as a direct access for the most frequent visitors, usually the elite of Paris. It leads to the bottom of the stairs, where the enigmatic Pythia sculpture<\/strong> is located. Charles Garnier<\/strong> pioneered the use of Mosaics<\/strong> as a decorative method in France. He embellished<\/strong> the vaults leading to the stunning Grand Foyer<\/strong>. Impressively long, the guilded decor<\/strong> is outstanding as well as the two fireplaces and detailed fresco<\/strong> stretching across the ceiling. The tour also includes the small <strong>museum, showing paintings and books related to the Opera Garnier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Opera Garnier<\/strong> is undoubtedly one of the most dazzling monuments in Paris. The tour will go through the history and context of the construction with a first outdoor description<\/strong>.\n
\nThe sweeping staircase is one of the most impressive<\/strong> features of the Opera. The opulence of the architecture and design is overwhelming, as it incorporates blends of luxurious marble<\/strong> from Italy, Sweden and France. The staircase also boasts of precious stones, is flanked by 30 marble column<\/strong>s and illuminated with freat candelabras<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nAlong with other exhibition rooms, archive galleries and secondary reception rooms, the tour will of course highlight the auditorium.<\/strong> With its impressive stage and theater space, it can sit 2000 people and used to be the biggest in the world<\/strong>. The 7 tons chandelier<\/strong> of pure bronze and crystal is world famous.
\nThe ceiling<\/strong>, painted pompously in the 1870’s was covered in the 1960’s upon the command of Culture minister Malraux with a brand new work by Marc Chagall<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nThe visit of the building will start with a vast space formerly used as a waiting room, before ascending the Great Staircase<\/strong> which leads to the auditorium as well as the various reception rooms and the famous grand foyer<\/strong>. It opens onto a balcony offering a stunning panorama stretching over to the Louvre. Some areas also exhibit costumes<\/strong> from famous plays, an archive gallery and temporary exhibitions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6372,"template":"","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[143],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6092","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-visit-paris","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"featured","11":"virtual","12":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n