{{short description|Opera house in Bordeaux, France}} {{more footnotes needed|date=March 2013}} {{Infobox venue | name = The Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux | logo_image = | image = GrandTheatreBordeaux2.jpg | image_size = 300px | image_alt = | caption = Exterior of the Grand Theatre | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_caption= | address = Place de la Comédie | city = Bordeaux | country = France | designation = | coordinates = {{coord|44|50|33|N|0|34|25|W|region:FR-75|display=inline,title}} | architect = Victor Louis | owner = {{ill|Centre hospitalier universitaire de Bordeaux|fr|lt=University hospital}} | tenant = | operator = | capacity = 1,100 | type = | opened = 1780 | reopened = | years_active = | rebuilt = | closed = | demolished = | other_names = | production = | current_use = | public_transit = | website = {{URL|www.opera-bordeaux.com}} }}

The '''Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux''' ({{IPA|fr|ɡʁɑ̃ teɑtʁ də bɔʁdo}}) is an opera house in Bordeaux, France, first inaugurated on 17 April 1780. It was in this theatre that the ballet ''La fille mal gardée'' premiered in 1789, and where a young Marius Petipa staged some of his first ballets.

The theatre was designed by the architect Victor Louis (1731–1800). Louis later designed the galleries surrounding, the gardens of the Palais Royal, and the Théâtre Français in Paris.

The Grand Theatre of Bordeaux was conceived as a temple of the Arts and Light, with a neo-classical facade. It has a portico of 12 Corinthian style colossal columns which support an entablature on which stand 12 statues that represent the nine Muses and three goddesses (Juno, Venus and Minerva). Pierre-François Berruer made four of the statues, and his assistant Van den Drix carved the others from Berruer's models.<ref>Charles Braquahaye, « Conjectures sur la destination des corniches à têtes feuillées du musée de Bordeaux », in ''Société archéologique de Bordeaux'', III, 1er fasc., March 1876, p. 85-91.</ref>

The interior grand staircase served as a model for the grand staircase of the Opéra Garnier in Paris.<ref>Andrew Ayers, ''The Architecture of Paris'', Stuttgart/London: Axel Menges, 2004, p. 175.</ref>

On the ceiling of the auditorium, there is a large fresco painted by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Robin. It pays homage to the Arts, to the artisans that built the building, and to the city of Bordeaux. The late scene shows a woman, allegory of Bordeaux, protected by Hermes and Athena, and in the foreground, three wealth of the city : the wine, the sea trade and the slave.<ref>Éric Saugera, ''Bordeaux, port négrier : chronologie, économie, idéologie, XVIIe-XIXe siècles'', Éditions Karthala, Paris, 2002, {{ISBN|9782865375844}}</ref>

<gallery widths="300" heights="300" mode="nolines"> File:Bordeaux grand theatre-1.jpg|Ceiling fresco. File:Détail de la fresque du Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux.jpg|Scene of Bordeaux and her wealth. </gallery>

In 1871, the theatre was briefly the National Assembly for the French Parliament.

The inside of the theatre was restored in 1991, and once again has its original colours of blue and gold. The Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux is one of the oldest wooden frame opera houses in Europe not to have burnt or required rebuilding.

Today, the theatre is home to the Opéra National de Bordeaux, as well as the Ballet National de Bordeaux which has many international dancers.

== Gallery ==

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200"> File:Grand Théâtre Bordeaux engraving by Poulleau NGO1p546.jpg|Auditorium File:Théâtre de Bordeaux plan au niveau des secondes loges - Marionneau 1881 - Google Books.jpg|Plan (1881) File:Bordeaux Grand Théâtre R03.jpg|Grand staircase File:Opéra de bordeaux .jpg|Grand staircase File:Le Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux.jpg|Portico File:Grand Théâtre Bordeaux.jpg|By night </gallery>

== Bibliography ==

* {{cite book |author= Laurent Croizier, Luc Bourrousse |title= The Grand-Théâtre of Bordeaux |edition= |publisher= Le Festin |location = Bordeaux |year= 2011 |isbn= 978-2-36062-040-1 }}

== Notes == {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux}} *[http://www.opera-bordeaux.com/ Opéra National de Bordeaux] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111202151632/http://www.opera-bordeaux.com/les-artistes/le-ballet.html Ballet National de Bordeaux]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Theatre de Bordeaux}} Category:Theatres in France Category:Opera houses in France Category:Neoclassical architecture in France Category:Buildings and structures in Bordeaux Category:Music venues completed in 1780 Category:Tourist attractions in Bordeaux Category:Theatres completed in 1780 Category:1780 establishments in France Category:18th-century architecture in France