Operas in Belgium. Comprehensive directory of Belgium operas.

La Monnaie
Town: Brussels Address: Place de la Monnaie	Price: 6 - 100 EUR

This opera house, with an impressive Neo-Classical facade, rests upon a more ancient structure and provides Brussels with a centre for cultural life. The original building was erected in 1695 because Gio Paolo Bombarda, a banker affiliated with Maximilian II Emmanuel of Bavaria, opted for the construction of a building which would hold ballets, operas and theatrical performances. In 1700, its construction had already begun, yet it was continued by architects Paolo and Pietro Bezzi and the French architect Louis Damesme, who eventually finished the construction. The Louis Damesme-designed facade, completed in 1819, owes its final look to Eugène Simonis who sculpted the allegorical bas relief in 1854. The overall Neo-Classical atmosphere of the structure doesn’t clash with the modern top two floors, which were entirely refurbished during the major renovation of 1985-86.

Opera Royal de Wallonie
Town: Brussels Address: rue des Dominicains 1 Phone: +32 4 221 47 22	Price: 6 - 65 EUR

Erected towards the end of the first quarter of the 19th Century by the architect Duckers, this theatre is a massive structure with its frontal facade being flanked by a massive marble colonnade. This structure was taken from the Medieval church of the Chartreux in Cornillon. The colonnade ends in a balustrade and tops the arcades of the ground floor. The pediment contains allegorical reliefs sculpted in a triangular formation.