Attraction: Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe is the most famous monument in Paris, France, which serves as a commemoration of victory in World War I. The full name is Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoileis, meaning “Triumphal Arch of the Stars”. It stands at the western end of the Champs-Élysées and is in the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, which was formerly known as Place de l’Étoile—the étoile or “star” of the juncture formed by its twelve radiating avenues. The location of the arc and the plaza is shared between three arrondissements, 16th (south and west), 17th (north), and 8th (northeast and southeast) (east). Also, those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars are honoured by having their names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, as well as those who participated in each of France’s victories and generals. The tomb’s ground lies beneath the vault of which lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.
The Arc de Triomphe, built by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, is the centerpiece of the Axe historique (historical 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), which presents a mythical vision of heroic-nude young Frenchmen pitting themselves against embattled Germanic warriors clad in chain mail.
It started the trend of patriotic monuments that lauded the virtues of the state. Inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome, Italy, the Arc de Triomphe has an overall height of 50 meters (164 feet), a width of 45 meters (148 feet), and a depth of 22 meters (72 feet), all of which comprise a large vault of 29.19 meters (95.8 feet) high and 14.62 meters (48.0 feet) wide. The transverse vaults, which are just a bit smaller than long transverse vaults, are 18.68 m (61.3 ft) tall and 8.44 m (27.7 ft) wide. Three weeks after the Paris victory parade, in which French forces had marched triumphantly under the arch’s primary vault, French aircraft pilot Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane under the arch’s primary vault, with the event captured on newsreel.
