Francisco de Oliveira Passos, the son of Mayor Francisco Pereira Passos, designed the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro with Albert Guilbert. The design was inspired by Charles Garnier's Paris Opéra. Construction began in 1905 with 280 workers in two shifts, and President Nilo Peçanha inaugurated the theater on July 14, 1909.
The foundation rests on 1,180 wooden poles driven into groundwater. European artisans made the stained glass and mosaic tiles. Henrique Bernardelli made the sculptures, and Rodolfo Amoedo and Eliseu Visconti painted the interior. The infobox gives the style as eclectic and Art Nouveau, and the text mentions only eclectic.
The theater closed for restoration in 1975 and reopened on March 15, 1978. It mainly stages ballet and classical music.
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