Arc de Triomphe

Faits

• The arch was commissioned by Napoléan Bonaparte to celebrate his victory at Austerlitz.
• The arch was completed by Blouet following the death of Chalgrin in 1811.
• The interior of the arch contains a small museum displaying plans and models related to the arch's construction.
• The arch is the venue for the culmination of the Tour de France cycle race.
• The inner walls of the arch display minor victories and the names of 558 generals - the names of those who died in action are underlined.
• So large is the arch, that a pilot has even flown a small plane through its centre.
• Circling the top of the arch are names of major victories from the time of the French Revolution and Napoleonic eras.
• On national holidays and state occasions, a huge French tricolor flag is hung inside the arch.
• The incumbent French president lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier every Armistice Day on the 11th day of the 11th month.
• The base of the arch exhibits four giant relief sculptures depicting The Triumph, Resistance, Peace and the Departure of the Volunteers, best known as La Marseillaise.
• The arch is best reached via a pedestrian underpass rather than by crossing the Étoile and risking injury from passing traffic.
• Beneath the arch sits the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with a flame of remembrance.
• The top of the arch provides a splendid view of the Étoile below and its twelve radiating boulevards; looking southeast along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Place de la Concorde and northwest to La Grande Arche and buildings at La Défense.
• World's largest triumphal arch.