Gabriel Davioud designed the theater at the request of Baron Haussmann, for Hippolyte Hostein's equestrian company, the Théâtre Impérial du Cirque. The City of Paris acquired the site in October 1859, construction ran from 1860 to 1862, and it opened in 1862 on the site of a former châtelet. The article describes the exterior as essentially Palladian entrances under arcades.
Capacity is disputed. An Archives Nationales document gives 2,200 seats, Haussmann claimed 3,600, and the infobox gives 2,500 today. The article gives no materials or dimensions.
Jules Verne's stage version of Around the World in Eighty Days ran from 1876, and Debussy's Le Martyre de saint Sébastien premiered here in 1911. The City of Paris has operated it since 1979. A renovation from 2017 to 2019 cost $34.7 million and returned the main hall to its 1862 appearance.
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