{{Otheruses4|the monument in Paris|the horse race in Paris|Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe|other uses|Arch of Triumph}}
[[Image:Arc Triomphe.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''Arc de Triomphe'' at night]]
The '''Arc de Triomphe''' is a monument in [[Paris]] that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the [[Place de l'Étoile]] (Star Square). It is at the eastern end of the [[Champs-Élysées]]. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], and today also includes the [[tomb of the unknown soldier]].
The Arc is the linchpin of the historic axis (''L'[[Axe historique]]'') — a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the courtyard of the [[Louvre]] Palace to the outskirts of Paris. The monument was designed by [[Jean Chalgrin]] in 1806, and its [[Iconography|iconographic]] program pitted heroically [[Nudity|nude]] French youths against [[beard]]ed Germanic warriors in [[Mail (armour)|chain mail]] and set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant nationalistic messages, until [[World War I]].
The monument stands over 51 meters (165 ft) in height and is 45 meters wide. It is the second largest [[triumphal arch]] in existence.<ref>[[North Korea]] built a [[Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang)|slightly larger Arch of Triumph]] in 1982 for the 70th birthday of [[Kim Il-Sung]].</ref> Its design was inspired by the Roman [[Arch of Titus]]; The Arc de Triomphe is so colossal that three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, marking the end of hostilities in World War I, Charles [[Godefroy]] flew his [[Nieuport]] biplane through it, and was caught in a newsreel.<ref>Melville Wallace, ''La vie d'un Pilote de Chasse en 1914–1918'', 1978; the film clip is included in The History Channel's ''Four Years of Thunder''.</ref>
==History==
The Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]] by Emperor [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon I]] 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 bride Archduchess [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Marie-Louise ]] of Austria, he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed. The architect Jean Chalgrin died in 1811, and the work was taken over by Huyon. During the [[Bourbon Dynasty, Restored|Restoration]], construction was halted and would not be completed until the reign of [[Louis-Philippe of France|King Louis-Philippe]], in 1833–36. When the architects on site were Goust then Huyot, under the direction of [[Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury|Héricart de Thury]].
[[Image:Ribart Elephant triomphal.jpg|thumb|There was a pre-Napoleonic (1758) proposal by [[Charles Ribart]] for an elephant-shaped building on the location of the current arch.]]
===The design===
The sculpture representing ''Peace'' is now interpreted as commemorating the ''Peace of 1815'' — not the original intention.
[[Image:lamarseillaise.500px.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cast of the head of a figure from François Rude's sculpture "La Marseillaise".]]
The [[Astylar]] design is by [[Jean Chalgrin]] (1739–1811), in the [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] version of ancient [[Roman architecture]]. Major [[academy|academic]] sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: [[Jean-Pierre Cortot|Cortot]], [[François Rude|Rude]], [[Antoine Étex|Étex]], [[James Pradier|Pradier]] and [[Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire|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 [[appliqué]]s on Empire furniture. The four sculptural groups at the base of the Arc are ''The Triumph of 1810'' ([[Jean-Pierre Cortot]]), ''Resistance'' and ''Peace'' (both by [[Antoine Étex]]) and the most renowned of them all, ''Departure of the Volunteers of '92'' commonly called ''[[La Marseillaise]]'' ([[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 seven-star rank of [[Marshal]] of France.
In the attic above the richly sculptured [[frieze]] of soldiers are 30 shields engraved with the names of major [[French Revolutionary Wars|Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic military victories]]. The inside walls of the monument list the names of 558 French generals. The names of those who died in battle are underlined. Also inscribed, on the shorter sides of the four supporting columns, are the names of the major battles of the Napoleonic wars. The battles which took place in the period between the departure of Napoleon from [[Elba]] and his final defeat at [[Waterloo, Belgium|Waterloo]] are not included.
===Environs and further work===
The Place de l'Étoile was extensively redesigned by [[Baron Haussmann]], who increased the number of avenues radiating from this star to twelve. In the 1860s he ran a circular road (''rue de Tilsitt-Presbourg'') round the outside of the houses fronting the ''Étoile,'' a planning feature intended to free the Place itself from the crush of carriages that might be expected where so many stylish tenants lived so closely together. Haussmann imposed a uniform design on the house fronts with small gardens at the back giving on to this circular road. Haussmann's memoirs publicly noted that the official façade design, from [[Jacques Ignace Hittorff|Hittorff]] in his own office, was so poor that he had to mask the fronts with trees. But the uniformity complements the Arc's monumental presence. The traffic problem was not resolved, however.
===Les "Grandes Guerres" and the Unknown Soldier===
The sword carried by the ''Republic'' in the ''Marseillaise'' relief broke off, on the day, it is said, that the [[Battle of Verdun]] began in 1916. The relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations.
Famous victory marches past the Arc included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1918, the Germans in [[1940]] [http://www.worldwariimuseum.com/Images2005/03Arc01lg.gif], and the French and Allies in [[1944]] [http://pictopia.com/perl/get_image?size=457x275_mb&provider_id=38&ptp_photo_id=79689] and 1945. [[Charles de Gaulle]] survived an attack upon him at the Arc during a parade.
[[Image:Unknownsoldier paris.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]] beneath the Arc de Triomphe, Paris]]
Beneath the Arc is the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]] from the [[World War I|First World War]]. Interred here on [[Armistice Day]] 1920, it has the first [[eternal flame]] lit in Western Europe since the [[Vestal Virgin]]s' fire was extinguished in the year 391. It burns in memory of the dead who were never identified, now in both World Wars. France took the example of the [[United Kingdom]]'s tomb of [[The Unknown Warrior]] in [[Westminster Abbey]]. A ceremony is held there every [[November 11]] on the anniversary of the [[armistice]] signed between France and Germany in 1918. It was originally decided in [[November 12]], [[1919]] to bury the unknown soldier's remains in the [[Panthéon, Paris|Panthéon]], but a public letter-writing campaign led to the decision to bury him beneath the Arc. The coffin was put in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc on [[November 10]], [[1920]], and put in its final resting place on [[January 28]], [[1921]]. The slab on top carries the inscription <small>ICI REPOSE UN SOLDAT FRANÇAIS MORT POUR LA PATRIE 1914–1918</small> ("Here lies a French soldier who died for his fatherland 1914–1918").
[[Image:Arcoftriiamph.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The arc from the street.]]
In 1961, President [[John F. Kennedy]] and First Lady [[Jacqueline Kennedy]] of the United States paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President [[Charles de Gaulle]]. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, 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. President de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral, and he was able to witness Jacqueline Kennedy lighting the eternal flame that was inspired by her visit to France.
===Maintenance===
By the early 1960s the monument had grown very blackened from coal soot and during 1965–1966 the Arc de Triomphe was thoroughly cleaned through sandblasting. By 2007 some darkening was again apparent.
==Access==
Pedestrian access to the Arc de Triomphe is via an underpass - dodging through the Paris traffic on the roundabout that surrounds the arc is not recommended. The Arch has one lift, to the level underneath the exterior observation level. Visitors can either climb 284 steps to reach the top of the Arch or take the lift and walk up 46 steps. From the top there is a panoramic view of Paris, of the twelve major avenues leading to the Étoile and of the exceptionally busy roundabout in which the Arc stands. Take the RER or Metro to the Charles de Gaulle - Etoile stop.
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{commonscat|Arc de Triomphe}}
* [http://www.parisrama.com/thematiques/thematique_arcdetriomphe.htm Inscriptions on the Arc de Triomphe]
* [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/arnauld.divry/arc_de_triomphe.htm The Names of 660 persons inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe]
* [http://www.photos-france.net/index.php/Arcs-de-triomphe/L-Arc-de-Triomphe-de-L-Etoile-a-Paris.html Photos of the Arc de Triomphe]
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{{Visitor attractions in Paris}}
[[Category:1836 architecture]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Paris]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in France]]
[[Category:Triumphal arches in France]]
[[Category:Paris VIIIe arrondissement]]
[[Category:Paris XVIe arrondissement]]
[[Category:Paris XVIIe arrondissement]]
[[Category:Landmarks in France]]
[[ar:قوس النصر، باريس]]
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[[it:Arco di Trionfo (Parigi)]]
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