About Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the étoile or "star" of the juncture formed by its twelve radiating avenues. It should not be confused with a smaller arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, which stands west of the Louvre.
The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806 on the orders of Napoleon, and inaugurated in 1836 for the sixth anniversary of the Three Glorious Days.
Inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus, the Arc de Triomphe has an overall height of 50 meters, width of 45 meters, and depth of 22 meters. It is so colossal that three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane through it. It remains a central element of the Axe historique, a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route running from the courtyard of the Louvre.
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