Map - Copenhagen Opera House (Royal Opera House)

The Copenhagen Opera House (in Danish usually called Operaen, literally The opera) is the national opera house of Denmark, and among the most modern opera houses in the world. It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built at a cost of 2.5 billion DKK ( USD). It is located on the island of Holmen in central Copenhagen.

The foundation A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal donated the Opera House to the Danish state in August 2000. (Arnold Peter Møller (1876–1965) was a co-founder of the company now known as Mærsk). Some politicians were offended by the private donation, in part because the full cost of the project would be tax deductible, thus virtually forcing the government to buy the building; but the Folketing and the government accepted it in the autumn of 2000.

Architect Henning Larsen (1925–2013) and engineers Ramboll and Buro Happold and theatre consultant Theatreplan designed the facility. The acoustics were designed by Arup Acoustics and Speirs and Major Associates designed the architectural lighting. A.P. Møller had the final say in the design of the building, however, adding steel to the glass front, among other things. Construction began in June 2001 and was completed on October 1, 2004. It opened on January 15, 2005, in the presence of shipping magnate Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller (1913–2012), Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and Queen Margrethe II. The tenor Plácido Domingo made a gala guest appearance as Sigmund in Wagner's Die Walküre on April 7, 2006, in a production by Kasper Bech Holten) and attended by The Queen.