Salle de la Bouteille

Originally a tennis court (jeu de paume) that was converted into a theatre, it was inaugurated in 1671 as the first home of Pierre Perrin's Académie d'Opéra (see Paris Opera).

The first French opera, Robert Cambert's Pomone with a libretto by Perrin, premiered there on 3 March of that year.

[7] On 13 March 1672 the surintendant of the king's music, Jean-Baptiste Lully, acquired Perrin's rights to perform opera and named his company the Académie Royale de Musique, although it also continued to be called the Opéra.

Because of legal difficulties Lully could not use the Salle de la Bouteille, and moved the Opéra to a theatre built by Carlo Vigarani in the Bel-Air tennis court on the Rue de Vaugirard.

[7] In 1673, after the death of Molière, the Salle de la Bouteille became the home of the Guénégaud Theatre, a company formed from the remnants of the troupe of Molière and players from the Théâtre du Marais.

Plaque at the intersection of the rue Jacques-Callot and the rue Mazarine: "Here was erected the Salle du Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille, where the first opera of Paris opened on 16 [ sic ] March 1671." [ 1 ]
Future location of the Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille marked in blue on the map of Gomboust (1652)
Presumed plan of the theatre near the Passage du Pont-Neuf (1886) [ 2 ]