Cultural activities and landmarks near 9Hotel Bastille-Lyon
With its ideal location in the heart of the 12th arrondissement of Paris, discover the best restaurants and main attractions in the district around 9Hotel Bastille-Lyon.
Around 9Hotel Batille-Lyon
Cultural activities and landmarks near 9Hotel Bastille-Lyon
With its ideal location in the heart of the 12th arrondissement of Paris, discover the best restaurants and main attractions in the district around 9Hotel Bastille-Lyon.
Opera Bastille
Opera Bastille
Hotel Bastille-Lyon, few steps away from the Opéra Bastille
Hotel Bastille-Lyon, just a few minutes from the Opéra Bastille.
5 minutes walk from the hotel.
Near the Opéra Bastille, a conveniently located hotel.
Constituent, along with the Palais Garnier, the second venue of the Paris National Opera, and was inaugurated in 1989 on the Place de la Bastille. Our Bastille-Lyon hotel is just a few minutes walk from this iconic cultural landmark in Paris, which is one of the largest opera houses of the world.
1989 : the Paris Opéra acquires a modern space.
At the end of the 20th century, François Mitterrand, whose major works for Paris partially reshaped the face of the French capital, decided to build a new opera house. At the instigation of his Minister of Culture Jack Lang, the new President of the Republic decided in 1982 to launch a call for projects for the construction of a new “modern and popular” opera house.
The aim was also to build an opera house in Paris, a city of culture if ever there was one, capable of rivaling the world's greatest halls in terms of both seating capacity and technical capability. Indeed, at the dawn of the 21st century, it's time for more modern machinery, enabling stage directors to imagine shows that have been brought up to date.
Among the 1,700 architectural firms from all over the world who took part in the competition to win the project in 1983, Uruguayan-Canadian architect Carlos Ott came out on top. On November 17, 1983, he won the competition and was entrusted with the weighty and beautiful task of building a new opera house in Paris, a feat not seen since the construction of the Palais Garnier, which took place as part of the great Haussmann works instigated by Napoleon III a century earlier.
A new opera house on the Place de la Bastille.
It's one thing to want a new opera house in Paris, it's quite another to find the space to build it, in a small French capital where architectural harmony is of prime importance and attracts many tourists every year. But François Mitterrand was not one to be impressed by the monumentality of Paris, and he was not afraid to install glass pyramids in the courtyard of the Louvre. Imitating his great predecessor Georges Pompidou, who had the Halles de Paris demolished, François Mitterrand ordered the destruction of the Paris-Bastille railway station between rue de Lyon and rue de Charenton, which had been disused since 1969.
Construction of the Opéra Bastille began in 1984, with the demolition of the old station linking Paris and Vincennes, which had been rendered obsolete by the arrival of the RER A line. Construction work lasted several years, and the new Paris Opera was inaugurated on July 13, 1989, as part of the festivities marking the bicentenary of the French Revolution. However, work was rushed to coincide with the inauguration, so that the first performances could only take place in the spring of 1990, and it soon became apparent that numerous defects required a new phase of work.
Chaotic beginnings for the new opera house on Place de la Bastille.
Despite the technical difficulties involved in building the new Paris Opera House, France can now boast one of the largest opera houses in the world. With a total surface area of 160,000 m², the building designed by architect Carlos Ott is 80 metres high, 30 metres of which are underground.
The main auditorium is 20 metres high, 32 metres deep and 40 metres wide. It seats 2,745, slightly more than the Sydney Opera's Concert Hall, which seats 2,679, but almost a third less than New York's Metropolitan Opera, which seats 3,800.
The orchestra pit at the Opéra Bastille can accommodate 130 musicians, and can be covered to suit the needs of the scenography. The main stage itself is one of the most modern in the world, which is why it required so much work. Measuring 45 meters in height, 30 meters in width and 25 meters in depth, it features nine elevators, enabling the creation of several levels. Installed on three main elevators, it can descend to the lower backstage plateau, which is located on the sixth basement level.
The opera house also boasts two annex halls: a 500-seat amphitheatre beneath the main hall, and a 237-seat studio in the annex building. A new 800-seat auditorium is scheduled to open in 2022-2023.
An opera house in central Paris.
Located at the beginning of the Marais district, the Opéra Bastille is almost as central as the Opéra Garnier, and easily accessible by metro, bike, car or on foot. While the Opera's main entrance is on the Place de la Bastille, facing the Colonne de Juillet, its southern façade extends from the Hôpital des Quinze-Vingts, one of the oldest hospitals in Paris. To the west, the Opéra Bastille is located at 120 rue de Lyon, while its eastern facade adjoins rue de Charenton.
This central location, in a lively Paris where culture is in constant turmoil, makes it a must for Parisian nightlife, just a stone's throw from the Bastille-Lyon hotel