Palais Garnier
Opulent Second Empire opera house with a real underground cistern that inspired the Phantom of the Opera legend.
Location
About this audio guide
Palais Garnier in Paris hides the real events behind The Phantom of the Opera: a chandelier accident in 1896 that caught crime reporter Gaston Leroux's attention, and a vast cistern five storeys beneath the auditorium, built to hold back a flooded foundation. The guide follows architect Charles Garnier's building alongside the backstage rumors that circulated after an earlier opera house burned. Stand beneath the grand staircase to see how much Garnier packed into every inch of gilding.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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