A Stalled Build and the Fire at Salle Le Peletier

Palais Garnier's first stone was laid in 1861, and the building was completed 15 years later, in 1875. That was a long time for the era, because the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870 and construction was halted. During the war, the unfinished building served as a food warehouse. On top of that, Napoleon III surrendered in defeat and was deposed as emperor; he went into exile in England and died in 1873. The project he had ordered looked as though it would quietly fade away.

That same year, however, the original national opera house, the Salle Le Peletier, was destroyed by fire. The cause is said to have been gas lighting, which at the time was a real innovation for the stage. In the days of candles and oil lamps, someone had to walk up to each light to turn it on or off, but with gas, brightness could be controlled from a distance through pipes.

It was also dangerous. Records from the period, when gas lighting was used on stages around the world, show that at least 50 theaters were lost to gas-lighting fires in just the 20 years between 1860 and 1880. The Salle Le Peletier was one of them. You can see how large the fire was in the period illustration attached to this track.

With the Salle Le Peletier gone, the need for a national opera house became urgent again, and the stalled construction of Palais Garnier resumed and was finally completed.