landmarks quick facts
- Napoleon ordered it in 1806 but never saw it finished; he died in 1821.
- For his 1810 wedding a full-size arch was built from wood and painted canvas.
- It is 50 m high and 45 m wide, with 284 steps to the top.
- The names of 30 battles, 96 feats of arms and 384 generals are carved into it.
- The flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is rekindled every evening.
The Arc de Triomphe at a glance
| Arc de Triomphe | |
|---|---|
| Where | Place de l’Étoile, Paris, at the top of the Champs-Élysées |
| Ordered by | Napoleon I, in 1806 |
| First architect | Jean-François Thérèse Chalgrin |
| Finished | Inaugurated 29 July 1836 |
| Height | 50 m (164 ft) |
| Width | 45 m (148 ft) |
| Steps to the top | 284 |
| Underneath it | The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier |
It took thirty years to build, and the first version was made of wood and painted canvas.
Why Napoleon ordered it
In 1805, Napoleon I won the Battle of Austerlitz, probably his greatest victory.
The following year, in 1806, he ordered a triumphal arch in Paris to celebrate his armies.
The idea was not new. Roman emperors built arches like this to mark victories, and Napoleon was deliberately borrowing from Rome.
He moved quickly. In December 1805, straight after Austerlitz, he told his Minister of the Interior to get started, and on 18 February 1806 he signed a formal decree ordering the arch in honour of the Grande Armée.
He chose a spot at the top of the Champs-Élysées called the Place de l’Étoile. Étoile is the French word for star, and the name comes from the avenues that spread out from it in every direction.
Our guide to France covers the country it stands in.
The arch made of wood
Here is the strangest fact about the Arc de Triomphe.
In 1810, Napoleon was getting married and wanted to bring his bride through the arch in a grand procession.
The problem was that the arch did not exist yet. Four years after he ordered it, the stonework was barely off the ground.
So a full-size model was built out of wood and canvas, painted to look like stone, and the wedding procession passed under that instead.
Napoleon never saw the real one finished. He was out of power by 1815 and died in 1821.
Thirty years and four architects
Big monuments take a long time, and this one took longer than most.
Jean-François Thérèse Chalgrin designed it with Jean-Arnaud Raymond. Chalgrin died in 1811, and Louis-Robert Goust took over.
Then work simply stopped, because France had a revolution’s worth of political upheaval to get through first.
Building restarted in 1823 under King Louis XVIII, with Jean-Nicolas Huyot joining the project.
It was finally inaugurated on 29 July 1836, under King Louis-Philippe, thirty years after Napoleon ordered it.
The opening was oddly quiet for such a monument. The official ceremony was kept discreet for security reasons, and only eleven people were present.
It changed whose monument it was
Because it took so long, the Arc de Triomphe was rededicated more than once as France changed rulers.
Napoleon meant it for his imperial army.
In 1823 Louis XVIII rededicated it to the Army of the Pyrenees.
In 1832 Louis-Philippe rededicated it again, this time to the Armies of the Revolution and the Empire.
Three different governments, three different meanings, one building. That is quite normal for monuments, and it is worth noticing: what a monument is *for* can be rewritten long after the stone is cut.
How big is it?
The Arc de Triomphe stands 50 metres high, which is 164 feet, and 45 metres wide, which is 148 feet.
That is roughly the height of a 16-storey building.
It is much larger than the Roman arches it was modelled on, which is part of the point: Napoleon wanted something that outdid them.
You can climb to the top, and there are 284 steps. There is a lift, but it only goes part of the way. The last stretch is on foot whatever you do.
The view from up there is the reason to bother. You are standing at the centre of the star, with the avenues running away from you in every direction, and the whole plan of this part of Paris laid out below.
The names carved into the stone
Look closely at the walls and pillars and you will find them covered in writing.
The official record lists 30 decisive battles of the Revolution and the Empire, 96 feats of arms, and 384 generals.
More names were still being added as late as 1895, nearly sixty years after the arch was finished.
Think about what that means as an object. It is a list of names, cut into stone, so long that it took most of a century to finish writing.
The outside carries enormous sculpted groups of figures, one on each pillar, each several storeys high.
The Unknown Soldier and the flame
The Arc de Triomphe has a second meaning now, and for many French people it is the more important one.
The First World War killed so many soldiers that vast numbers were never identified. To honour all of them, one unidentified French soldier was buried beneath the arch.
The ceremony took place on 11 November 1920, and the official site records that the Unknown Soldier has lain beneath the Arc de Triomphe since 28 January 1921.
Two years later a flame was lit at the tomb for the first time.
It has been rekindled in a ceremony every single evening since. Our guides to Remembrance Day and the First World War explain why that date matters.
So the meaning has turned around completely. Napoleon ordered this arch to celebrate winning battles. At its centre now is a grave for one man nobody can name.
A monument people gather at
It has never been only a decoration.
On 2 August 1830, more than 20,000 people gathered around the arch to demand that King Charles X give up the throne.
Ever since, it has been where Paris goes for parades, victory celebrations, national ceremonies and protests.
The Eiffel Tower is the more photographed Paris landmark, but the Arc de Triomphe is the one the country stands under when something serious is happening.
The first stone, on his birthday
The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1806, and that date was not chosen at random. It was Napoleon’s birthday.
The stone carries an inscription saying so. It records the fifteenth of August, the anniversary of the birth of his majesty Napoleon the Great, as the day this stone was laid. It was the first stone of the whole monument.
It was placed eight metres down, between the two southern pillars, and it is still there under the whole weight of the arch.
The site was chosen with care too. The arch sits west of the Champs-Élysées, positioned so that Napoleon could see it from the Palais des Tuileries, the palace he lived in.
The ground had already been reshaped once. An engineer named Jean-Rodolphe Perronet had lowered the hill there by about four or five metres, on a spot then known as the Promenoir de Chaillot.
Why it took so long
Thirty years is a long time for one building, so it is worth asking what went wrong.
Mostly, France did. A lot happened between 1806 and 1836. Napoleon’s empire ended. The kings came back. There was a revolution in 1830, and then a different royal family.
Each change brought new priorities. Each one reopened the argument about whether a monument to Napoleon’s armies should be finished at all.
There was also the sheer size of it. Picture a 50-metre arch of cut stone, covered in sculpture and thousands of carved letters. That is slow work even when nobody is arguing about it.
The result is that the Arc de Triomphe was started by an emperor, abandoned, restarted by one king and opened by another.
Three things people get wrong
“Napoleon built it.” He ordered it in 1806, but it was inaugurated in 1836 under Louis-Philippe, fifteen years after Napoleon died. He only ever passed under a wooden copy.
“It was always a monument to Napoleon’s army.” It was rededicated by Louis XVIII in 1823 and again by Louis-Philippe in 1832, so what it officially honours has changed twice.
“It is just a victory monument.” The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War lies beneath it, and the flame there is relit every evening.
Did you know? For his wedding procession in 1810, Napoleon had a full-size arch built out of wood and painted canvas, because the real one was nowhere near finished.
Try it
The arch is 50 m tall. Find a building near you and work out how many of it would stack up to 50 m.
Knowledge check
Did Napoleon ever see the finished Arc de Triomphe?
Show answer
No. He ordered it in 1806 and died in 1821, and it was not inaugurated until 29 July 1836. The only version he passed under was a wood and canvas model built for his wedding in 1810.
What lies beneath the Arc de Triomphe?
Show answer
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an unidentified French soldier of the First World War. A flame there has been rekindled every evening since the 1920s.
Frequently asked questions
Who built the Arc de Triomphe?
Napoleon I ordered it in 1806. Jean-François Thérèse Chalgrin designed it with Jean-Arnaud Raymond, and after Chalgrin died in 1811 the work passed to Louis-Robert Goust and later Jean-Nicolas Huyot.
How tall is the Arc de Triomphe?
Fifty metres, or 164 feet, and 45 metres wide. There are 284 steps to the top.
When was the Arc de Triomphe built?
Napoleon ordered it in 1806, building stopped and restarted in 1823 under Louis XVIII, and it was inaugurated on 29 July 1836 under Louis-Philippe.
Why was the Arc de Triomphe built?
To celebrate the victories of the French armies, especially after Napoleon won the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. It was modelled on the triumphal arches of ancient Rome.
What is under the Arc de Triomphe?
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The burial ceremony was on 11 November 1920, and the official site records that the soldier has lain beneath the arch since 28 January 1921.
How many names are on the Arc de Triomphe?
The arch records 30 decisive battles, 96 feats of arms and 384 generals. Names were still being added as late as 1895.
Sources
- Arc de Triomphe official site: history of the Arc de Triomphe — the architects, the 1810 wooden model, the rededications, the 30 battles, 96 feats of arms and 384 generals, the 1836 inauguration and the 1830 gathering
- Arc de Triomphe official site: the Unknown Soldier — the burial dates and the flame that is rekindled daily
- Britannica: Arc de Triomphe — the 1806 commission after Austerlitz, the height and width, and the 284 steps
