Copenhagen · Holmen
Operaen
An opera house given to the nation by a shipping fortune, facing the royal palace across the water
The 105 000-piece gold-leaf ceiling above the main auditorium
The shipping magnate Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller paid for the building outright and handed it to the Danish state in 2005, on conditions about the design that caused a public argument the country enjoyed thoroughly. It sits on Holmen directly opposite Amalienborg palace, on an axis the architect was required to respect.
The main auditorium seats fourteen hundred under a ceiling covered in gold leaf, the foyer is a glass drum over the harbour, and the acoustics are genuinely good, which was not guaranteed by any of the above.
The detail
Good to know
- Opened
- 2005
- Donor
- A. P. Møller foundation, given to the state
- Main stage
- 1 400 seats
- Approach
- Harbour bus 991 or 992
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