The Grand Theatre

The Grand Theatre was inaugurated on April 7th 1780 and marked an important stage of the town’s urbanism. To construct this impressive building (88 metres by 47), he called upon the architect Victor Louis (1731-1800) Grand Prix de Rome, famous for his work on the Chartres Cathedral, the Palais Royal and the Théâtre Français in Paris. The Grand Theatre of Bordeaux was conceived as a temple of the Arts and Light. Its neo-classical façade is endowed with a portico of 12 Corinthian style colossal columns that support an entablature on which stand 12 statues that represent the nine muses and three goddesses (Juno, Venus and Minerva). In 1871 the theatre was briefly the National Assembly for the French parliament. The inside of the theatre, restored in 1991, once again has its original colours of blue and gold. The Grand Theatre is the oldest wooden frame opera house in Europe not to have burnt or required rebuilding.