Place de l'Opéra

Place de l'Opéra
The Place de l'Opéra seen from the Palais Garnier in 2010
Place de l'Opéra is located in Paris
Place de l'Opéra
Shown within Paris
Arrondissement9th
QuarterOpéra
Coordinates48°52′14″N 02°19′56″E / 48.87056°N 2.33222°E / 48.87056; 2.33222

The Place de l'Opéra (French pronunciation: [plas də lɔpeʁa]) is a square in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, at the junction of the Boulevard des Italiens, Boulevard des Capucines, Avenue de l'Opéra, Rue Auber [fr], Rue Halévy [fr], Rue de la Paix and Rue du Quatre-Septembre [fr]. It was built at the same time as the Opéra Garnier (designed by Charles Garnier), which is sited on it and after which it is named. Both structures were part of the Haussmannian redesign of Paris under Napoleon III.

2, place de l’Opéra

The building at 2, place de l'Opéra in a 1873 caricature of SDCC chairman Armand Donon
2, place de l'Opéra

The building at No. 2, on the corner of the Rue du Quatre-Septembre, was built between 1868 and 1873 on a design by architect Henri Blondel. It was initially the head office of the Société des Dépôts et Comptes Courants (SDCC), and following the latter's liquidation in 1892 became the principal Parisian branch of Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris (CNEP), itself recently recovered from a major restructuring.

Between 1940 and 1944, the building was the location of the Kommandantur [fr] or office of the military commander of the city of Paris. It is now used by the CNEP's successor bank BNP Paribas.

Transportation

Located near the Métro station: Opéra.
Panorama of Place de L'Opera (1900)