Arc de Triomphe

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The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile,Template:Efn often simply called the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France. It is located at the western end of the Champs-Élysées, at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle—formerly known as Place de l'Étoile—named for the star-shaped configuration formed by the convergence of twelve radiating avenues. Paving stones of different colors trace a stellar pattern on the plaza's surface, with its points reaching toward the centre of each avenue. The monument is situated at the intersection of three arrondissements: the 16th (to the south and west), the 17th (to the north), and the 8th (to the east). Commissioned to honor those who fought and died for France during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Arc bears the names of French victories and generals engraved on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I, marked by an eternal flame commemorating unidentified fallen soldiers.

The central cohesive element of the Axe historique (historic axis, a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route running from the courtyard of the Louvre to the Grande Arche de la Défense), the Arc de Triomphe was designed by Jean-François Chalgrin in 1806; its iconographic programme pits heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments with triumphant patriotic messages. Inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome, Italy, the Arc de Triomphe has an overall height of Template:Cvt, width of Template:Cvt and depth of Template:Cvt, while its large vault is Template:Cvt high and Template:Cvt wide. The smaller transverse vaults are Template:Cvt high and Template:Cvt wide.

Paris's Arc de Triomphe was the tallest triumphal arch until the completion of the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City in 1938, which is Template:Cvt high. The Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, completed in 1982, is modeled on the Arc de Triomphe and is slightly taller at Template:Cvt. The Grande Arche in La Défense near Paris is Template:Cvt high, and, if considered to be a triumphal arch, is the world's tallest.[1]

History

Construction and late 19th century

File:Paris - Orthophotographie - 2018 - Place Charles-de-Gaulle 02.jpg
Avenues radiate from the Arc de Triomphe in Place Charles de Gaulle, the former Place de l'Étoile.

The Arc de Triomphe is located on the right bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806, after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes. Laying the foundations alone took two years and, in 1810, when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his new bride, Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed. The architect, Jean-François Chalgrin, died in 1811 and the work was taken over by Louis-Robert Goust.[2]

File:La bataille d'Austerlitz. 2 decembre 1805 (François Gérard).jpg
The Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805, painting by François Gérard displayed in the Gallery of the Battles, at the Palace of Versailles.

During the Bourbon Restoration, construction was halted until 1823, and it would not be completed until the reign of Louis Philippe I in 1836, by architects Louis-Robert Goust and Jean-Nicolas Huyot, under the direction of Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury, then by Guillaume-Abel Blouet.[2] The final cost was reported at about 10 million francs (equivalent to an estimated €65 million or $75 million in 2020).[3][4]

On 15 December 1840, Napoleon's remains were brought back to France from Saint Helena and passed under the Arc de Triomphe en route to his final resting place at Script error: No such module "Lang"..[5] Prior to his burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo lay in state beneath the arch on the night of 22 May 1885.


20th century

File:Crowds of French patriots line the Champs Elysees-edit2.jpg
Free French forces on parade after the liberation of Paris on 26 August 1944.

It is said that on the day the Battle of Verdun began in 1916, the sword carried by the figure of the Republic in La Marseillaise sculptural group broke off. The relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations.[6]

On 7 August 1919, three weeks after the Paris victory parade marking the end of hostilities in World War I, Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane under the arch's primary vault, with the event captured on newsreel.[7][8][9] Jean Navarre was the pilot who was tasked to make the flight, but he died on 10 July 1919 when he crashed near Villacoublay while training for the flight.

Following its construction, the Arc de Triomphe became the rallying point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns and for the annual Bastille Day military parade. Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944[10] and 1945. A United States postage stamp of 1945 shows the Arc de Triomphe in the background as victorious American troops march down the Champs-Élysées and U.S. airplanes fly overhead on 29 August 1944. After the interment of the Unknown Soldier, however, all military parades (including the aforementioned post-1919) have avoided marching through the actual arch. The route taken is up to the arch and then around its side, out of respect for the tomb and its symbolism. Both Adolf Hitler in 1940 and Charles de Gaulle in 1944 observed this custom.

By the early 1960s, the monument had grown very blackened from coal soot and automobile exhaust, and during 1965–1966 it was cleaned through bleaching. In the prolongation of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a new arch, the Grande Arche de la Défense, was built in 1982, completing the line of monuments that forms Paris's Axe historique. After the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, the Grande Arche is the third arch built on the same perspective.

In 1995, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria placed a bomb near the Arc de Triomphe which wounded 17 people as part of a campaign of bombings.[11]

On 12 July 1998, when France won the FIFA World Cup for the first time after defeating Brazil 3–0 at the Stade de France, images of the players including double goal scorer Zinedine Zidane and their names along with celebratory messages were projected onto the arch.[12]


21st century

In late 2018, the Arc de Triomphe suffered acts of vandalism during the yellow vests protests.[13] A crowd of demonstrators sprayed the monument with graffiti and ransacked its museum.[14] In September 2021, the Arc was wrapped in a silvery blue fabric and red rope,[15] as part of L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, a posthumous project planned by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude since the early 1960s.[16]


Design

Monument

File:Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile - Projet Chalgrin - 02.jpg
Jean-François Chalgrin's drawing of the Arc de Triomphe, 1806.

The astylar design is by Jean-François Chalgrin (1739–1811), in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture. Among the major French academic sculptors represented on the Arc de Triomphe are Jean-Pierre Cortot, François Rude, Antoine Étex, James Pradier, and Henri Lemaire. The main sculptures are not integral friezes but are treated as independent trophies applied to the vast ashlar masonry masses, not unlike the gilt-bronze appliqués on Empire furniture. The four sculptural groups at the base of the Arc are The Triumph of 1810 (by Jean-Pierre Cortot), The Resistance of 1814 and The Peace of 1815 (both by Antoine Étex), and the most renowned of them all, The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792, commonly called La Marseillaise (by François Rude). The face of the allegorical representation of France calling forth her people on this last was used as the belt buckle for the honorary rank of Marshal of France. The sculptures representing Triumph, Resistance and Peace commemorate Napoleon's victories, the invasion of France in 1814, and the end of hostilities in 1815.[17]

On the attic above the richly sculptured frieze of soldiers are 30 shields engraved with the names of major French victories in the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars.[18] The inside walls of the monument list the names of 660 officers, among which are 558 French generals of the First French Empire;[19] the names of those killed in battle are underlined. Also inscribed, on the shorter sides of the four supporting columns, are the names of the major French victories in the Napoleonic Wars. Battles that took place during the Hundred Days are not included.[20]

For four years from 1882 to 1886, a monumental sculpture by Alexandre Falguière topped the arch. Titled Le triomphe de la Révolution ("The Triumph of the Revolution"), it depicted a chariot drawn by horses preparing "to crush Anarchy and Despotism".[21]

Inside the monument, a permanent exhibition, conceived by artist Maurice Benayoun and architect Christophe Girault, opened in February 2007.[22]

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

File:Paris Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile Grabmal des Unbekannten Soldaten 2.jpg
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Interred on Armistice Day 1920,[23] an eternal flame burns in memory of the dead who were never identified (now in both world wars).[24]

A ceremony is held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier every 11 November on the anniversary of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 signed by the Entente Powers and Germany in 1918. It was originally decided on 12 November 1919 to bury the unknown soldier's remains in the Panthéon, but a public letter-writing campaign led to the decision to bury him beneath the Arc de Triomphe. The coffin was put in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc on 10 November 1920, and put in its final resting place on 28 January 1921.[24] The slab on top bears the inscription: Ici repose un soldat français mort pour la Patrie, 1914–1918 ("Here rests a French soldier who died for the Fatherland, 1914–1918").[24]

In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by President Charles de Gaulle. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.[25]

Details




  • 96 battles are engraved on the inner façades, under the great arches:




  • The ceilings with sculpted roses:


  • Interior of the Arc de Triomphe:


  • There are several plaques at the foot of the monument:


Access

The Arc de Triomphe is accessible by the RER and Métro, with the closest stop being the Charles de Gaulle–Étoile station. Due to heavy traffic on the roundabout of which the Arc is the centre, pedestrians use two underpasses accessible from the Champs-Élysées and the Grande Armée avenues. A spiral stairway with 240 steps leads visitors to the museum level in the attic of the monument, where large models of the Arc and interactive exhibits on its history, construction, and cultural significance are displayed. Another 40 steps lead to the rooftop terrace, offering a panoramic view of Paris.[29] Elevators providing access to the museum and rooftop terrace are available.[30]

The location of the Arc, as well as the Place de l'Étoile, is shared between three arrondissements: the 16th (to the south and west), the 17th (to the north), and the 8th (to the east).


Replicas

While many structures around the world resemble the Arc de Triomphe, some were actually inspired by it. Replicas that used its design as a model include the Rosedale World War I Memorial Arch in Kansas City, United States (1924); the Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest, Romania (1936); the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, North Korea (1982); and a miniature version at the Paris Casino in Las Vegas, United States (1999).[31]


See also

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Notes

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References

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External links

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Hôtel des Invalides website Template:Webarchive.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Melville Wallace, La vie d'un pilote de chasse en 1914–1918, Flammarion, Paris, 1978. The film clip is included in The History Channel's Four Years of Thunder.
  9. ↑ * « Un aviateur passe en avion sous l'Arc de Triomphe » Template:Webarchive, Le Matin from 1919/08/08, p.1, column 3–4.
  10. ↑ Image of Liberation of Paris parade Template:Webarchive.
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ The Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro is inscribed as a French victory, instead of the tactical draw and strategic defeat that it actually was.
  19. ↑ Among the generals are at least two foreign generals, Venezuelan Francisco de Miranda and German-born Nicolas Luckner.
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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