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Paris’ Winter Circus gets all cleaned up and smart

This brilliant building looked grimy for years before being sandblasted back to its former beauty…

photo: jasonw


Paris is very good at keeping its buildings clean, yet sometimes the most impressive – like the Winter Circus – get into an impressive state of disrepair. This venerable building was well due for a cleanup.

Built in 1852, and listed as a national monument since 1942, it’s a twenty-sided building (with the circus ring in the middle), 41 metres across, and could originally contain 4,000 people, although only 1,650 are allowed under current fire regulations. It was a cinema for a while and is now used for musicals, fashion shows, political meetings and – most of the time – as a circus.

I used to live near the building, and it was obvious for a very long time that it needed a thorough clean. The renovation has cost 1.8M euros (nearly $2.7M) and taken ten months. During the day it’s now impressively colourful, and illuminated at night it seems even more majestic. A few of our photos are included here, but when you’re in Paris, perhaps you could pop down an have a look for yourself, or even go to a show there; the red velvet interior is quite spectacular…

You can see the rest of our photos here on Flickr.


Le Cirque d’Hiver de Paris, 110 rue Amelot, Paris 11th arrondissement. Métro Filles du Calvaire (line 8)
Slightly naff official site here.


Bigger map here