Opéra de Marseille

This guide to the Opéra de Marseille traces the 1919 fire that swallowed the theater after a rehearsal of Meyerbeer's L'Africaine, sparing only the stone colonnade, and the four-year rebuild by architect Gaston Castel into one of France's boldest art deco interiors. It follows ironworker Raymond Subes, who in 1929 forged the entrance gate's starfish and floral scrollwork, and the sculptor Sequin's bronze dancers between the columns. Look for the small sea creatures worked into the ironwork as you approach the doors.