Paris is sometimes, like Rome, called the eternal city. It is Rome that is considered the only twinned city of the French capital - after all, according to the saying, only Paris is worthy of Rome, only Rome is worthy of Paris. Where the breath of eternity is felt, there are always many secrets hidden from the inquisitive, but more often just curious, eyes of contemporaries. To each his own, each will find what he is looking for in Paris - this city is so many-sided and diverse. The mystical stories associated with Paris are mesmerizing. The mysterious events that took place in the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, and the Grand Opera only confirm the mysterious reputation of the eternal city. A mysterious romantic halo surrounds Paris - it is present everywhere, in everything.
Grand Opera
The famous "Grand Opera", or Opera Garnier, is a worthy example of this. Coming out of the metro with the same name and seeing the main facade of the famous Parisian theater, one is involuntarily surprised at its impressive size. The total area of the French Opera is 11,000 square meters and its height is 76 meters. Many celebrities performed under the arches of this theater, including Russians: Fedor Chaliapin, Sergei Lifar. And Rudolf Nureyev even directed her ballet troupe for several years. The plafond of the auditorium was painted in 1964 by also a native of Russia - Marc Chagall.
Strange incident
The Grand Opera hall not only hosted celebrities, but was also a silent witness to mystical events. The most mysterious incident here happened on May 20, 1869, when Faust was given. The hall was attended by over a thousand spectators. At the very moment when the main character, Margarita, uttered her remark: “Oh, silence! Oh, happiness! An impenetrable mystery! - the hall shuddered from a terrifying roar. What happened? The rope on which the famous Opera chandelier was attached broke, and 700 kilograms of gilded bronze and crystal crashed down on the heads of the frightened audience with a crash. At the same time, oddly enough, only one person died, but many spectators were injured.
As it turned out later, it was for this fateful performance that the enterprising leadership of the Grand Opera violated a long-term “contract” with a mythical ghost, according to which box number five was forever assigned to him, and sold tickets to these seats. According to legend, a certain ghost lived in the old Opera who was in love with a young and extremely gifted singer. The girl's mysterious patron tried in every possible way to arrange her career. But she, frightened by such signs of attention, preferred the love of a normal person to the fanatical courtship of her invisible adorer, thereby awakening insane jealousy in the ghost.
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Continued story
This is not to say that the story is completely fictional. The fact is that mysterious phenomena have occurred at the Opera and continue to occur to this day. In the ceilings, in the depths of the basement corridors, wardrobe rooms, and sometimes above the stage itself, theater workers see dark silhouettes.
Charles Garnier himself, the architect on whose project the Grand Opera was built, seriously believed in the existence of spirits and ghosts that supposedly live in the huge underground of his brainchild. They laughed at the architect's superstition. His stories were taken seriously only by the young Parisian reporter Gaston Leroux, who published The Phantom of the Opera in 1911. It was he who turned the mysterious story told by the architect into a beautiful and somewhat eerie literary work.
The episode with the falling of the chandelier on the audience was used in Leroux's novel in a somewhat embellished form. The story of a mysterious ghost, and according to other sources - the Angel of Music, inspired contemporary directors and producers to create films. By the way, ten film scripts have been written on this topic. And composer Andrew Lloyd Webber even wrote the musical "The Phantom of the Opera".
Rumor has it that to this day there is a clause in the contracts of the directors of the Grand Opera, the terms of which prohibit selling tickets to the mysterious box number five of the first tier to anyone. This bed for all ages belongs to Eric - the Phantom of the Opera. Every evening he silently enters it and sits on comfortable armchairs upholstered in red velvet. And if someone violates the prohibition, then the consequences of this, according to experts in theatrical traditions, can be the most sad and unpredictable.
Construction puzzles
Mysterious stories are also associated with the construction of the Opera building. During its construction, which lasted nearly 15 years, the most ridiculous obstacles arose. Charles Garnier literally with a fight had to defend his unusual project in front of his ill-wishers and even before the Empress Eugenia herself. The architect eventually managed to prove that his brainchild was created in the style of the era of Napoleon III. In fact, this style is called eclecticism, which translated from Greek means "mixing". Garnier combined the Spanish Jesuit style of the 17th century with the style of the Italian Renaissance façade. The interior of the Opera looks just as eclectic, and perhaps somewhat pretentious. Two colors reign here - red and gold. For the first time in the history of the construction of the theater, the main space began to be occupied not by the stage, but by the main staircase and foyer. With the impressive size of the building, the auditorium can accommodate no more than two thousand spectators. But despite all the disparity in the space of the Opera Garnier, the building as a whole makes a harmonious impression. It is no accident that in 1923 it was included in the list of architectural monuments protected by the state.
The interiors of the Paris Grand Opera amaze with splendor
Nevertheless, it is still not surprising that the legend of the Phantom of the Opera, or the Angel of Music (whichever you prefer) - even if it is only a legend - found its embodiment in the Parisian "Grand Opera". You can hardly imagine a better place for a mystical phantom. The theater itself is like a fantasy embodied in stone. Eclectic, with many secret corridors, underground labyrinths and unusual structures inside, it could not but generate a huge amount of rumors and speculation. What is speculation! Reality itself seemed to convince that the Paris Opera is not an ordinary building. Many Communards were executed in its cellars (five stories high) during the Paris Commune, when the Opera was not yet completed. After the fall of the Commune, construction of the building resumed. It was almost over nowwhen on October 28, 1873, suddenly and for some unknown reason, a terrible fire began.
Despite everything, however, Garnier's brainchild was completed, and in 1875 President McMahon solemnly proclaimed the opening of the Grand Opera.
And a genius, a friend of paradoxes …
They say that art, like history, is created by geniuses, lovers or madmen. Indeed, Garnier at one time was declared almost a city madman. Many were amazed at how it was possible to build a building on a completely unsuitable place for this: on the sandy embankment of the Seine, soaked like a sponge, with water. What negative metaphors this building has not received! Claude Debussy once said: "The building looks like a train station, but if you get inside, you would rather confuse it with a Turkish bath."
But, one way or another, the Paris Opera is able to immerse its visitors in different historical and spatial dimensions. And the external and internal decoration of the Opera Garnier not only pleases the eye, but also delights Parisians and guests of the capital with its luxury.