Palais Garnier

The Palais Garnier is distinguished by its massive copper roof and the gold-colored figures that adorn its dome, rising high above the street level. Commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III during the Second Empire, this building was designed by a then-unknown architect, Charles Garnier, who won a competition for the project in eighteen sixty-one. It took fourteen years to complete, a period marked by the Franco-Prussian War, financial hurdles, and the discovery of an underground lake that workers had to pump out for eight months.