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Built
The opera house was built over a decade, from 1901 to 1911
Construction started in June 1901 and finished a decade later in December 1911. Built by the French colonial administration as the Hanoi Municipal Theater, it is one of three opera houses built in French Indochina, alongside those in Haiphong and Saigon.
The model
It was modelled on the Palais Garnier, on a smaller scale
The opera house was modeled on the Palais Garnier, the older of Paris's two opera houses, but smaller and using materials more suitable to the local environment. Broyer first conceived the design, and Lagisquet fully realized it with Victorin Harlay.
1945
In 1945 Viet Minh leaders proclaimed independence from its balcony
On 19 August 1945 a mass rally attended by hundreds of thousands took place on the square in front of the Opera House, sparking the August Revolution. In September 1945 Viet Minh leaders proclaimed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from its balcony.
Assembly
The National Assembly first met in the Opera House in 1946
The first session of the First National Assembly of Vietnam was held in the Opera House on 2 March 1946. The first and second Constitutions of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam were later passed there, in 1946 and 1959.
Renovation
It was renovated in the 1990s and closed for work again in 2026
By the end of the 20th century it had fallen into serious disrepair, with moss on the walls and corrugated iron over roof tiles. A renovation began in 1995 and finished two years later. Since 31 January 2026 it has been closed for another two-year renovation.
Day 5, afternoon
It comes after St. Joseph's Cathedral. Then Long Bien Bridge.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Hanoi Opera House, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.