The auditorium takes the shape of a traditional Italian horseshoe, and it can accommodate a crowd of 1,979 while the stage can house as many as 450 artists. Each end is named Salon du Soleil and Salon de la Lune respectively. The Grand Foyer is 154 meters long, 13 meters wide, and 18 meters high and it opens into an outside loggia. The painting above the staircase was created by Isidore Pils. It has a large ceremonial staircase featuring a balustrade of green and red marble while the pedestals are decorated with female torchéres. The opera's interior features a network of stairwells, alcoves, corridors, and landings. The Pavillon des Abonnés is situated on the east side and it is covered by a dome measuring 13.5 meters in diameter. A group of rooms on the building's west side called Pavillon de l'Empereur houses the Paris Opera Library-Museum. At the apex of the stage, flytower's south gable is the sculptural group poetry, Apollo, and Music. There are busts of many of the iconic composers such as Beethoven and Auber situated between the facade's columns. The facade's right and left extremities are topped by two gilded figural groups made of gilt copper electrotype and named L'Harmonie and La Poésie. Seventy-three sculptors, fourteen painters, and mosaicists designed the facade's ornamentation. The principal facade lies on the building's south side, and it overlooks the Place de l'Opéra. The opera's style is regarded as Second Empire Beaux-Arts complemented with Neo-Baroque decorative elements as well as eclectic ornamentation. The opera was restored from 1994 to 2007, during which the electrical facilities and stage machinery were modernized, and its foundation and structure strengthened. He assembled a team of drafters and architects, and the opera was constructed from 1861 to 1875, after a pause from 1870 to 1871 due to the Franco-Prussian War. Garnier subsequently began operating from the Opéra Agence, his office situated on the construction site. A design competition called by Emperor Napoleon III saw Charles Garnier's design for the opera picked by the jury. Georges-Eugène Haussmann, then the Prefect of Seine, approved a site off the Boulevard des Capucines upon proposal by Rohault de Fleury as the potential site for the opera. An attempted assassination of Emperor Napoleon III on January 14, 1858, at the entrance of the Salle Le Peletier, made the need for a new opera more urgent. It was not until the establishment of the Second Empire that real efforts were implemented to build a new opera. The need for a new permanent building for the Opéra de Paris was experienced from 1821 as the opera then resided temporarily in the Salle Le Peletier. The Palais Garnier represents the flamboyance associated with France's second empire. It was built in the 19th century, and it is located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The Palais Garnier stands as one of Paris' most iconic and celebrated structures. Architectural Buildings of the World: Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier, also known as the National Academy of Music, in Paris, France.