Classical · Architecture

Opéra d'Avignon

Avignon

L’Opéra Grand Avignon, commonly known as the Opéra d’Avignon, is a historic opera house in Avignon. In 1824, the Municipal Council asked architects Ange-Alexandre Bondon and Alexandre Frary to clear the ruins of the old Benedictine abbey of Saint-Laurent and build a new theater. The resulting building featured a Greco-Roman style facade with two superimposed colonnades crowned by statuettes representing Apollon and the Muses, made by sculptors Baussan and Lacroix. After the theater burned down, the municipality decided to rebuild it on the same site and commissioned Théodore Charpentier and Léon Feuchère for the reconstruction, carried out from 1846 to 1847. The facade also included bas-relief busts of Roi René and Pétrarque by Jean-Baptiste-Jules Klagmann, while statues of Molière and Pierre Corneille were later remade by Jean-Pierre Gras. The opera was renovated in 1978 and again from 2018 to 2021 to improve comfort.

Map showing the location of Opéra d'Avignon in Avignon
Location of Opéra d'Avignon in Avignon

Nearby Objects

Opéra Grand Avignon

The opera house is known as the Opera Grand Avignon. The provided information identifies it as the subject of the section and indicates that it is the opera institution in Avignon. No further architectural, historical, or usage details are given in the available facts.

Construction and Renovation of the Opera d'Avignon

In 1824, the Municipal Council of Avignon asked the architects Ange-Alexandre Bondon and Alexandre Frary to clear the ruins of the old Benedictine abbey of Saint-Laurent and build a new theater on the site. The building they created had a Greco-Roman facade with two superimposed colonnades, topped by statuettes representing Apollon and the Muses, made by the sculptors Baussan and Lacroix. The theater later burned down on an unspecified date.

The municipality then chose to rebuild it on the same site, commissioning Théodore Charpentier of Lyon and Léon Feuchere of Nimes for the reconstruction. This work was carried out from 1846 to 1847. The facade also included bas-relief busts of Roi Rene and Petrarque by Jean-Baptiste-Jules Klagmann. Statues of Moliere and Pierre Corneille by Jean-Louis Brian and Joseph Brian originally stood in front of the building, but because of material failure they were remade by Jean-Pierre Gras, and the originals were moved in front of the Thor town hall.

The Opera was renovated in 1978 to adopt an Italian-style theater setting. More recently, the Opera Grand Avignon was renovated from 2018 to 2021 to improve comfort. During that period, a temporary opera, Opera Confluence, was built in front of the Gare d'Avignon TGV to host performances for two seasons. The historic Opera then reopened and resumed performances.