Culture: The Arc de Triomphe celebrates two hundred years

THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE CELEBRATES TWO HUNDRED YEARS

June 2006

Tourists who pay a visit to the world-famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris will also pay tribute to two hundred years of history.

On August 15, 1806, the first stone of the Arc de Triomphe was laid, the cornerstone of a grandiose project commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his victories and the glories of the French army. Jean-François Chalgrin was the architect chosen for envisioning a monument that would measure up to the ambitions of its founder. And so the world-famous archway began to take form. Inspired by Roman antiquity, the arch measures 50 metres high and 45 metres wide, and was carved out of a colossal block of stone weighing in at over 70,000 tonnes. One of the monument’s most striking features is the frieze crowning it: 137 metres around and richly sculpted with figures 2 metres high, and four striking bas-reliefs.

While the choice of the structure’s ornamental decorations required much deliberation, the location selected was decisive in determining the future layout of the French capital. At the time, Place de l’Etoile was a near-deserted hill, a rural crossroads surrounded by lawns giving onto five avenues, while the Champs-Élysées was an almost entirely undeveloped strip of land. The decision to erect the Arc de Triomphe in that location heralded the prosperity that marked 19th century France and gave shape to the Paris we know today: on one side, the popular east, dotted with monuments honouring the revolution, such as the July Column on Place de la Bastille and Place de la République itself, and on the other, the affluent west, home to the Bourgeoisie and to many of the city’s national military buildings.

The Arc de Triomphe is also a symbol of changing times. In 1660, King Louis XIV celebrated the arrival of his new bride Maria Teresa at the Place du Trône, now Place de la Nation. However, in 1810, Napoleon entered the capital from the west, guiding Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria under the Arch of Triumph that he had commissioned (or rather, through the feet of the monument, since the foundations of the colossal stone arch alone took more than two years to lay). An Arc de Triomphe did exist, but it was a mere work of trompe-l’œil constructed by the architect from wood and painted cloth, to be displayed at the imperial wedding ceremonies and to show the Emperor the final fruit of the labours to come.

Construction was interrupted following the Empire’s first taste of defeat and was completely abandoned under the Restoration. It was not until 30 years later that the arch would see completion. The monument was officially inaugurated on July 29, 1836 by Louis-Philippe, who ascended the French throne in 1830. Napoleon passed through the arch for the last time on December 15, 1840 when his ashes were transferred to their final resting place. This ceremony marked a turning point in the monument’s history. Henceforth, the archway was associated with funeral celebrations and national memory. The Victor Hugo’s coffin was solemnly guarded under the Arc de Triomphe on the night of May 22, 1885. The following century, after the victorious troops made a solemn procession through the Arch of Triumph on July 14, 1919, the body of an unknown soldier killed during the war was interred there on November 11, 1920. A torch was lit three years later in remembrance of the brave men who fell during the First World War.

The decision to honour an unknown hero, a victim of the war whose body could not be identified, was made by the French parliament in 1919. The bodies of eight unidentified French soldiers were chosen and transported to the Citadel of Verdun. Auguste Thin, a soldier who had lost his father in the war, was given the duty of choosing which coffin to bring back to Paris. Since then millions of visitors have come to pay their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The flame of remembrance that burns by the tomb was the brainchild of Gabriel Boissy, an early twentieth-century journalist and literary critic. His proposal was immediately approved by politicians and the public, all still deeply scarred by the war and the number of lives claimed.

Lit for the first time in 1923 by André Maginot, then Minister of War, the torch has burned ever since. A calendar is drawn up well in advance to ensure the flame is rekindled every evening at 6.30 p.m. by different parties, including associations of veterans and other organisations.

Amongst the 150 monuments and museums open to the public in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe is, along with the Eiffel Tower, the most visited attraction in the capital, a claim that justified the well-deserved facelift the archway received between 2003 and 2005. And for those who have never visited the arch in person or are unable to come and celebrate its bicentenary this summer, you can catch a glimpse of it on the silver screen. In fact, according to French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, you are more likely to see the Arc de Triomphe in an American film (1). Ironically, the New Wave director provided a superb exception, using the impressive archway as a backdrop to his movie Breathless. An apt title for a film featuring the Arc de Triomphe, wouldn’t you agree?

Mélina Gazsi

Opening hours:
From 1 April to 30 September - 10.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m.
From 1 October to 31 March - 10.00 a.m. to 10.30 p.m.
Please note that ticket booths will stop selling tickets 30 minutes before closing time.
Closed on 1 January, 1 May, 8 May (morning only), 14 July (morning only), 11 November (morning only) and 25 December.

www.monum.fr

(1) In his interview in Cahiers du cinéma no. 138, New Wave Special Report, December 1962

Last updated: 16.06.2006