Opera Garnier, designed it in 1862, has a total area of 11,000 square metres (118,404 square feet) and a vast stage with room for up to 450 artists. The auditorium itself comprises half of the total space, most of the rest being used to house necessary logistical support so that the stage demands of any opera can be met and even surpassed. This can include live horses running on a rotating stage. The opera seats 2,200.

The Paris Opera was immortalized by writer Gaston Leroux in his Phantom of the Opera. The architecture is a mixture of baroque, classical, Greek and Napoleonic styles. Adorned with mosaics, the foyer has a cupola decorated by painter Marc Chagall and an impressive rococo staircase, which leads to the theatre's magnificent reception rooms.

The building was designed by Charles Garnier and is now the national ballet centre.

Now regarded as one of the masterpieces of Paris .

Thanks to the diversity of the materials used in the building of the house, you're immediately struck by a full range of colours, right from the façade which opens into the fairy-tale world of the Opera House, to which the two side pavilions also provided access: for the regular ticket holders on one side and for the Emperor on the other. They are today occupied by the Library and the Opera Museum .