page_title: Cirque d'Été
section_title: Later history
hierarchical_section_title: Cirque d'Été / Later history
caption_attribution_description: English: Poster for "La femme Mélinite" at the Cirque d'été (1887) 122 x 96 cm
context_page_description: The Cirque d'Été, a former Parisian equestrian theatre, was built in 1841 to designs by the architect Jacques Hittorff. It was used as the summer home of the Théâtre Franconi, the equestrian troupe of the Cirque Olympique, the license for which had been sold in 1836 to Louis Dejean by Adolphe Franconi, the grandson of its founder, Antonio Franconi. The cirque was later also used for other purposes, including grand concerts conducted by Hector Berlioz.
  The new theatre was located on the north-east side of the present Rond-Point of the Champs-Élysées. At first called the Cirque National, it also became known as the Cirque des Champs-Élysées and the Cirque Olympique des Champs-Élysées. In 1853 it was renamed Cirque de l'Impératrice, a name which it retained until the fall of the empire in 1870.
  The cirque on the Champs-Élysées should not be confused with the same company's winter theatre, the Cirque Olympique on the Boulevard du Temple, which had opened in 1827, or with the company's later winter theatre, the Cirque Napoléon, also built for Louis Dejean and opened in 1852. The latter theatre dropped the name Cirque Napoléon in 1870 and became primarily known as the Cirque d'Hiver.
context_section_description: The Cirque d'Été typically had relatively inexpensive ticket prices. In 1846, 1852, and 1862, spectators were paying 1 franc for the upper level seating and 2 francs for the lower. The theatre reached its apogee during the Second French Empire under the name Cirque de l'Impératrice (1853–1870), after which it became known as the Cirque d'Été or the Cirque des Champs-Élysées. Its big attraction for a long time was the clown Jean-Baptiste Auriol (1808–1881). La Belle Otero and Émilienne d'Alençon also made their debuts there.
  Hittorf also designed a similar theatre, the Cirque Napoléon on the rue des Filles Calvaires which opened in 1852 and was renamed Cirque d'Hiver (Winter Circus) in 1870. The Cirque d'Été was only open in the summer from 1 May to 30 October, and the Cirque d'Hiver ran from 1 November to 30 April.
  The Cirque d'Été's success continued into the 1880s. Many Parisians visited on Saturdays, and it was considered chic.
  Public interest waned after the exposition universelle de 1889. It was demolished after 1900 (most likely in 1902) and gave its name to the rue du Cirque.
caption: Poster for "La femme Mélinite" (1887)
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