The Story Of… Arc de Triomphe in Paris
Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Photos credits Jean-Pierre Delagarde, Arnaud Frich and Patrick Cadet
Arc de Triomphe on Place de l’Étoile-Charles de Gaulle in Paris is a French landmark and one of the most famous monuments in the world. Napoleon I gave the order to built and King Louis Philippe I inaugurated it. In 2021 the monument was wrapped up by artist Christo. In the pillars 660 surnames and 174 battle names are inscribed. You can reach the top of the monument by taking the 284 steps of the spiral staircase. At the top you have a 360° view: The Champs-Elysées stretches underneath you all the way to Place de La Concorde and the Louvre. The Eiffel Tower seems within your reach. So if you are in Paris, go visit The Arc de Triomphe!
KB: Describe to the RSR readers when the Arc de Triomphe was founded?
Crowned in 1804, Napoleon I led military campaigns with his Grande Armée. On February 18, 1806, he signed an imperial decree ordering the erection of an arch in his honor. The architect Jean-François Thérèse Chalgrin, assisted by Jean-Arnaud Raymond, made the first plans. On Emperor Napoleon’s birthday, the first stone was laid. During its construction, from1806 to 1836, the monument underwent many stops and revivals following the political changes and the different architectural influences of that time. The construction of the Arc de Triomphe was finally completed and inaugurated on July 29, 1836 under the reign of King Louis Philippe I. Coming to power after the revolutionary days of July 1830, he dedicated the monument to the glory of the armies of the Revolution but also of the Empire, in order to spare the partisans of both sides and reconcile the history of France.
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KB: What are the measurements of the monument?
The monument measures 49.54m in height, 44.82m in length and 22.21m in width. Including its foundations, it weighs about 100,000 tons.
KB: Describe to the RSR readers the Arch’s parades.
The monument quickly became a witness to major national events, including parades. Here are the most notable ones in chronological order:
April 20, 1848 La Fête de la Fraternité: Republican festival that will be marked by a large military parade. It celebrates the introduction of universal suffrage.
December 2, 1852 Entry of Napoleon III: Louis Napoleon Bonaparte proclaims himself emperor and thus enters Paris accompanied by his guard. This date marks the beginning of the Second Empire.
July 14, 1919 The Victory Parade: celebration of the Victory of the France after 4 years of deadly war.
July 14 becomes the National Day in France and is celebrated each year with a military parade, with the review of the ground troops around the monument and on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and the aerial parade with the illustrious Patrouille de France, with blue, white and red jets.
August 26, 1944 The Liberation of Paris: French and Allies descend together on the Champs Elysées at the end of the Second World War after 4 years of the city’s occupation by Nazi Germany.
June 18, 1945 the Anniversary of the Appeal of June 18: second parade of Victory after that of 1919, it will be the last to pass under the Arc de Triomphe.
KB: In 2021, the monument was wrapped up by Christo.
The Christo and Jeanne-Claude team realized L’Arc de Triomphe empaqueté (Project for Paris, Place de l’Étoile-Charles de Gaulle), according to the wish of the artist Christo who wanted the continuation of the project after his death, which occurred on May 31, 2020. Visible for 16 days, from Saturday, September 18 to Sunday, October 3, 2021, the wrapped up Arc de Triomphe required 25,000 square meters of recyclable bluish silver polypropylene fabric and 3,000 meters of red rope of the same material. Like all the artistic projects of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, L’Arc de Triomphe empaqueté was entirely self-financed thanks to the sale of Christo’s original works: collages, drawings of this and other projects as well as models, works from the fifties and sixties and lithographs. To return to the genesis of the project, it all started in 1961. Three years after their meeting in Paris, Christo and Jeanne-Claude began to create temporary works for public space.
In 1962-63 Christo made a photomontage with the Arc de Triomphe wrapped up, seen from Avenue Foch. In 2017 he took up this project and started to develop. Nearly 60 years later, the project was realized. In 2020, the Centre Pompidou presented the exhibition “Paris!” which traced the Parisian period of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, from 1958 to 1964, as well as the history of the project Le Pont-Neuf empaqueté, 1975-1985. On this occasion, the project was presented to the Centre des Monuments Nationaux by the Centre Pompidou and very quickly received the support of the City of Paris. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux, which ensures the conservation and opening to the public of the Arc de Triomphe on behalf of The State, welcomed the realization of a project that testifies to its commitment to contemporary creation and the enhancement of one of the most emblematic monuments of Paris and France.
Its interior rooms and terrace remained open to the public throughout the project. The daily ceremonies of the revival of the Flame and the tributes to the Unknown Soldier took place in the required solemnity, without interruption, during the phase of work and exhibition.
KB: Describe to the RSR readers the names of people and battles engraved on the monument?
On February 20, 1836, Lieutenant General Saint-Cyr Nugues proposed three lists of names: 30 decisive battles of the Revolution and the Empire for Attica, 96 feats of arms and 384 generals to adorn the pedestals. Subsequently, the government and the architect faced a wave of contestation concerning the names inscribed on the pillars. It was assured that all requests would be studied. Blouet would immediately add 128 names of generals and 172 forgotten battles. In his work “Les Voix Intérieurs”, published in 1837, Victor Hugo lamented not to see his father’s name, Jospeh-Léopold-Sigisbert Hugo, who had been appointed General by Louis XVIII in 1814. Thereafter, occasional additions were made until in 1895 a total of 660 surnames and 174 battle names was reached.
KB: Describe to the RSR readers the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
As early as 1916 the idea was born to open the doors of the Pantheon to the ignored combatants who died bravely for the Fatherland, whose tomb only had two words inscribed “A Soldier” and two dates “1914-191? “. This idea was quickly taken up again in 1918 and supported by a press campaign. On November 12, 1919, the Chamber of Deputies decided that the remains of a French soldier who had died in battle would be transferred to the Pantheon. But veterans’ associations rejected the choice of the Pantheon and obtained a burial commensurate with the sacrifice of some 1,500,000 French people who died during the Great War, under the Arc de Triomphe. On November 9, 1920, nine coffins were exhumed from nine different battlefields. André Maginot, veteran and war maimed, presided over the soldier’s selection ceremony.
He gave Auguste Thin, a young corporal, a bouquet of flowers placed on the coffin of his choice. Once the coffin is designated, the body of the Unknown Soldier immediately sets off for Paris aboard a special train. In the night, the coffin is deposited in a burning chapel located place Denfert-Rochereau. A funeral procession was organized on November 11, 1920, from the chapel to the Arc de Triomphe, stopping at the Pantheon. The tomb under the great vault was not yet ready, so the Unknown Soldier was placed in the Salle des Palmes inside the monument. He was finally buried on January 28, 1921, in the presence of the French government, President Millerand and British Prime Minister David Loyd George.
Two years after the burial of The Unknown Soldier, journalist and poet Gabriel Boissy launched the idea of the Flame of Remembrance, which immediately received enthusiastic approval of public opinion and political decision-makers. To create the fire mouth, the ironworker Edgar Brandt and the architect Henri Favier were called upon. They made a circular shield in the center which opened a cannon mouth from where the flame emerged. Twenty-five swords radiate in a star around the flame. The flame was lit for the first time on November 11, 1923 by the Minister of War, André Maginot, surrounded by a multitude of veterans; Since then It has never died. A daily service is given to the Great Dead: every evening, at 6:30 pm, the Flame is revived by the association La Flamme sous l’Arc de Triomphe which represents the hundreds of veterans’ associations in France.
KB: How do you get to the top of the monument?
We reach the top of the monument by using the historical spiral staircase, completely renovated since last year, and taking the 284 steps. An elevator in the southwest pillar also allows the ascent to the museum room, reserved exclusively for those in need.
KB: In which films and TV series did the monument appear?
The monument, by the square and the symbol it embodies in Paris and more broadly in France, appears in many films. It can be seen in recent action movies like John Wick 4, Mission Impossible Fall Out or Murder Mystery 2. Also in animated films like Anastasia or Dili in Paris but also in American musicals of the 50s like Funny Face or Arc de triumph.
KB: Describe for the RSR readers what they would see on a visit to the Arc de Triomphe.
You first enter via the historical stairs located in the northeast pillar. The steps are comfortable and the circular movement of the spiral staircase is captivating. You then arrive in the mezzanine room where you can see a lion’s head of the cornice, a foot of a sculpted group and the molding of the Genius of the Fatherland, a remarkable reproduction of the sculpted group The departure of the Volunteers called La Marseillaise, visible on the forecourt of the monument. In the center of the room, a screen is filming live what is happening right now under our feet without us being able to see it, that is to say the view above the sacred square and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
A few steps leads us to the museum room where you admire the dedication of the monument, its model and the detail of the frescoes and sculptures that adorn the pillars. A souvenir shop-bookstore is also on this floor. The last 40 steps allow you to reach the top. A large 360° terrace is available to you. The Champs-Elysées stretches underneath you all the way to Place de La Concorde and the Louvre. We distinguish the Towers of Notre-Dame and the Pantheon. The Eiffel Tower stands on the right and seems within our reach.
KB: Why should people visit the Arc de Triomphe?
In the historic axis of the Champs-Élysées, between the Arc du Carrousel du Louvre and the Arche de la Défense, the Arc de Triomphe rises in the heart of the eighth arrondissement of Paris. Its terrace, overlooking the gray tiles of the Parisian rooftops, offers you a unique view of the greatest monuments of the capital. This panorama is only accessible by crossing the history of France, from the Empire of Napoleon I to the Second World War. The Arc de Triomphe is an emblematic monument of France, at the heart of the most significant events in our history. Visiting the forecourt, the interior rooms and discovering the details of the sculpted groups that dress it, allows you to understand all the symbolism of this monument.
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