Bordeaux Grand Theatre

The Bordeaux Grand Theatre was built from 1773 to 1780 on the grounds of the Gallo-Roman Forum and on the south glacis of the former mediaeval Château Trompette. Inaugurated in 1780 with Racine’s Athalie, it was designed by Victor Louis (1731-1800), one of the most gifted architects of his time who influenced a whole generation and propagated Neo-Classicism in Bordeaux and the region. He also built the Palais Royal and Théâtre Français in Paris.

Bordeaux Grand Theatre, France – image source

Victor Louis was much impregnated with Roman Art and Palladio’s masterpieces and thus constructed the Bordeaux Grand Theatre like a Latin temple. This is one of the most important buildings of the French Neo-Classicism and an example for theatrical architecture.

Bordeaux Grand Theatre at dusk – image source

Victor Louis conceived his theatre in a deliberately simple volume according to the Neo-Classical aesthethics : a rectangle parallellepiped, preceded by a huge collonade with a descreet decoration. The twelve columns of the façade support an architrave, a cornice and the balustrade upon which twelve statues by Van den Drix and Berruer represent three goddesses (Juno, Venus and Minerva) and the nine Muses.

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On the sides, Corinthian pilasters correspond to the columns of the façade and frame the arcades of the lounges and the windows of the first floor. An attic crowned with a balustrade runs along the building itself.

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Great care was given to the delicate inner decoration. The hall with the grand flight of stairs and elegant dome are intact. The Bordeaux Grand Theatre was restored in 1991. It is the oldest wooden frame opera in Europe and the only one never rebuilt.

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Charles Garnier who admired Victor Louis took his inspiration here for his monumental staircase in the Paris Opera. It is amazing to note that Bordeaux cathedral inspired Viollet-le-Duc for the statues of the façade at Notre-Dame de Paris and the severe buildings of Place Jean Jaurès inspired Haussmann for his Parisian buildings.

The dome above the Grand Staircase, Bordeaux Grand Theatre – image source

This magnificient town not only has a splendid architecture and great atmosphere but turns to be a fabulous source of inspiration.