Front facade of the Opera House
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Built by the French in 1911, and renovated in the late 1990s, this is an incredible building. Hanoi Opera House is an old theatre with French architecture and typical Gothic and Mosaic characters reflected on the door domes and the glassed room respectively. The facade is colonial French with pillars and balconies overlooking the city center. The 900-seat opera house plays host to visiting foreign performances as well as Vietnamese symphonies. The exterior is a delightful mix of French neo-classical design with shuttered windows, wrought iron balconies and tiles friezes.
For a long time, Hanoi Opera House has been a rendezvous for those who love theatrical performance and traditional songs and music, symphonies, opera and classical opera. It is also a tourist attraction for local and foreign visitors.
Hanoi Opera House has a great value in history, architecture as well as its use. It was a historical evidence of Vietnamese social and cultural development under French rule, a vestige for an architectural development stage dating back to the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Vietnam. The theatre has seen many significant historical events associated to the August Revolution and the early years of Vietnam Democratic Republic.
Hanoi Opera House is renowned for its unique architecture and good composition. It is furnished rationally and harmoniously. Since its establishment, Hanoi Opera House is the largest theatre in Vietnam.
Hanoi Opera House is of the same architectural style as the Opera House in France. Some foreign architects said that due to being built nearly 300 years after the Paris Opera House, Hanoi Opera House avoids superfluous architectural details, which make it more magnificent and attractive. Inside the opera house are a large stage and a main audience room with a size of 24x24m, with many small rooms for audience on the central floor. The middle staircase leads to a large Hall on the second floor. The sub-staircase and corridors are located in both sides.
Being an ancient architecture work, the Opera House is now becoming a national art work of international renown, which contributes to our country's modern cultural field, also serves as a foundation in cultural exchanging, in our present social economic development and the national cultural innovation in particular.
Hanoi Opera House is a worthy artistic centre, a cultural and architectural relic of the capital Hanoi. This is truly a beautiful building in Hanoi and the best place to see the Opera House is from the 6th floor of the Hanoi Hilton.
