The Palais Garnier is a 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. The theatre was also often referred to as the Opéra Garnier, the Opéra de Paris or simply the Opéra.

It was the primary home of the Paris Opera and its associated Paris Opera Ballet until 1989, when a new 2,700-seat house, the Opéra Bastille, with elaborate facilities for set and production changes, opened at the Place de la Bastille. The Paris Opera now mainly uses the Palais Garnier for ballet.

The Palais Garnier is "probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame cathedral, the Louvre, or the Sacré Coeur basilica."