The Lake Beneath the Paris Opera
Beneath the Paris Opera lies a hidden lake, and a falling chandelier weight there helped inspire The Phantom of the Opera.
What was reported
The Palais Garnier, the grand opera house of Paris, opened in 1875. During its construction, builders struck groundwater, and a huge water-filled tank was built beneath the stage to steady the foundations; it still holds water, and firefighters have trained in it.
In 1896 a counterweight of the great chandelier fell during a performance, and a member of the audience was killed. These stories, and rumours of a ghost in Box 5, inspired Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera (1910).
Explanations offered
There's no phantom, but the underground 'lake' and the accident are real, and Leroux wove them into his novel, which became one of the most famous musicals of all time. Box 5 is now marked as the Phantom's box.
- When
- Opened in 1875
- Where
- Palais Garnier, Paris, France
- Witnesses
- Builders, audiences and the novelist Gaston Leroux
- Status
- Partly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.