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Avenue de l'Opéra
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| Arrondissement | Ier, IIe |
| Quarter | Palais Royal. Place Vendôme. Gaillon. |
| Begins | 4 place André Malraux |
| Ends | boulevard des Capucines |
| Length | 698 m |
| Width | 30 m |
| Creation | 1867 |
| Denomination | December 10, 1873 |
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Avenue de l'Opéra by Camille Pissarro from the Hotel du Louvre, 1898
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| Located near the metro stations: Opéra, Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre or Pyramides. |
The Avenue de l'Opéra is a Haussmanian avenue situated in the centre of Paris, France. It runs from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, which was Paris's main opera until it was replaced by the Opéra Bastillein 1989.
Unlike most Parisian avenues, there are no trees. This is the result of a compromise between Haussmann and Charles Garnier, the architect of the Opera House, who desired the best view possible of the main facade of the Opera at the end of the avenue. He did not want the view to be obstructed by the leaves and branches.
The avenue is very popular with tourists and as such is lined with travel agencies, banks, and shops selling cliche Parisian merchandise. It is close to a small Japanese district on rue Sainte-Anne.
Initially, the Butte Saint-Roch was located at the level of the current rue des Pyramides. Joan of Arc installed there culverins to support the attack against the Porte Saint-Honoré.[1] The mount was a little shortened in 1615, but remained a serious obstacle. The entire area between the Louvre and grand boulevards was occupied by narrow streets and considered as unhealthy and dangerous.
The enormous spoil were used to fill the excavations of the Champ de Mars. To get an idea of the importance of the mount, see the entrance of the church of Saint-Roch where we climb thirteen steps. Before the leveling of the mount, we had to descend seven steps ! [1]
A first project (decree of 3 May 1854) was to create an "avenue Napoleon" from the Louvre to the place where the rue de la Paix joins the boulevards.
In the early 1860s, the project of a new opera relaunches the project by a decree of 24 August 1864. Work starts at each end but slowly. The fall of the Second Empire in 1870, marks an end of the work, at least for a while. Napoleon Avenue was renamed Avenue of the Opera in 1873. After a public decree of 27 June 1876, work resumed and completed quickly. The last buildings along the avenue were built in 1879.
At n°22, site of the old Hotel des Deux Mondes, closed in 1940. After the war, it was the seat of U.S. secret services.
The Avenue de l'Opéra was featured in Louis Aragon's surrealist novel Le Paysan de Paris (The Parisian Peasant).