1 Trang Tien street, Hoan Kiem dist, Hanoi

Hanoi’s majestic old Opera House, located in the French Quarter, in the heart of Hanoi, right in a beautiful intersection downtown, where five main city roads lead to. The building was completed in 1911 after 10 years of construction, by two French architects, Broyer and V. Harley, resembling the Opéra Garnier de Paris.

Hanoi Opera House is now considered to be one of the architectural landmarks of Hanoi. Its design is strongly influenced by the French architecture style from 19th century. The front facade impresses passerby with French neo-classical design shuttered windows, wrought iron balconies and tiled friezes. The interior design of Hanoi Opera House overwhelms visitors with T-shape white marble staircase centered with red carpet, crystal chandeliers, large wall mirrors, Corinthian columns and colorful dome by colorful murals and reliefs.

After the departure of the French, the Opera house became the scene for several political events, Vietnamese plays and musicals.

While Western Operas are occasionally mounted here, there are also performances by visiting classical orchestras, and a whole gamut of entertainments, such as puppet shows, ballets, and nights of traditional Vietnamese song and drama, and now frequently show – Lang Toi (My Village)

Interesting facts and figures

• The building took 10 years to be completed from 1901 to 1911.
• The building is 34 meters above the ground and carried out in a total area of 2600 square meters with the 87-meter length and 30-meter width.
• The auditorium is 24 x 24 meters with three seat floors that include 589 velvet seats.
• In 1995, the government spent nearly 14 million US dollars to restore the opera house.
• The building was acclaimed as Nation Relic, on its 100th birthday, December 9th 2011.

Find out more at
http://hanoioperahouse.org.vn/en