The Bataclan Theatre in Paris in 2021 and in 1920

The building won its fame precisely for its unusual architecture. It was originally a large café-chantant built in the fashionable chinoiserie style. The ground floor housed a café with a theatre, and above it was a large dance hall.

In 1926 the building, inspired by Chinese architecture, was sold and became a cinema. In 1950, in accordance with new safety standards, it was partially dismantled, and in 1969 the cinema was closed. Since 1983 it has functioned as a concert hall in a greatly altered form, and in its outward appearance the Chinese motifs can now scarcely be guessed at, perhaps in the pitch of the roof and the proportions.

Today the Bataclan Theatre has a sorrowful connotation: in November 2015 a terrible terrorist attack with many victims took place here during a music concert, and only a year later did the theatre begin to function as a venue again, reopening with a concert by Sting.