The opera house built to plans drawn up by Gottfried Semper burnt down in 1869. The current opera house was built between 1871 and 1878 by his son, Manfred Semper. This building draws on the forms of the Italian Renaissance. The arc-shaped façade consists of three floors, the upper one of which is set back. Observe the niches dug into the lateral returns of the façade and you will find the statues of Shakespeare and Sophocles, Molière and Euripides.