Salle Le Peletier

The Salle Le Peletier began as an emergency project born from a tragedy. In February 1820, the Duke of Berry, a member of the French royal family, was fatally stabbed outside the previous opera house. King Louis the Eighteenth ordered the demolition of that site and mandated the immediate construction of a replacement. Architect François Debret built this new theater on the grounds of a former private mansion in just twelve months. Though it was intended as a temporary venue, it anchored Parisian cultural life for over fifty years.