II.7. WHEN OBSERVATION AND THE USUAL STORY CLASH: WHAT OPÉRA TOURS WON'T SAY

MENU: 2.7. What Opéra tours won't say

"LOOK AT THE IMPORTANCE WE GIVE TO CULTURE!" IS THE OFFICIAL MESSAGE OF THE MID-19TH CENTURY'S MOST IMPORTANT BUILDING

(1861-1874)

Usually one needs specialized information to challenge accepted accounts. Here observation is enough.

Richard Nahem

The Palais (palace) Garnier, named after its architect Charles Garnier or simply called the "Opéra," as opposed to the modern "Opéra Bastille."

     Christopher Dickey

A visit that peers behind the curtain

 

• A palace for a new elite 

• Backers, sex and money

• Blackout? 

• From nymphs to Nazis: How the Opéra saved the City of Love

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II.7.1.
A palace for a new elite

II.7.1. A PALACE FOR A NEW ELITE

2.7.1. A palace for a new elite

THE OPÉRA DOMINATES THE NEW IMPERIAL CAPITAL, A CITY

OF BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, DEPARTMENT STORES...

The second tranche of the urban metamorphosis that followed the first working-class insurrection is built in the west to avoid rebels and pollution. 

View from the terrace of the Printemps department store

A monument not built for culture

• A design that highlights power

• Where new and old money cross paths

• "We too can mingle with the gods"

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 A design that highlights power