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Paris has the biggest number of cinemas per inhabitant
of any city in the world.
Nowadays, these are mostly multiplexes run by international corporations.
But some of the auditoriums where cinematic chefs d'oeuvres are shown
are themselves works of art.
Among the best known are:
(1) La Pagode, a Japanese pagoda built in 1896
by the manager of the department store Le Bon Marché.
Originally a ballroom, then a banquet hall, it became a cinema in 1931
and now specializes in art films.
Movie-goers can enjoy coffee, tea or a drink
in a café in the attached small garden.
(2) Le Louxor is a fine example of neo-Egyptian architecture from the 1920s.
Its façade is decorated in mosaics of blue, black and gold.
Having lain sadly in ruins for several years during the 1990s,
it was bought by the city of Paris and restored to its former glory.
It now has three screens, an exhibition room and a café.
(3) Le Grand Rex was built in the 1930s
in the Art Deco style, inspired by the great American entertainment venues
such as Radio City Music Hall in New York.
The auditorium is in neo-baroque style
with antique pergolas and sculptures, and a starry ceiling.
All three cinemas and now registered as historic monuments of France.