Arc de Triomphe de letoile

Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile , imposing triumphal arch in Paris standing on an elevation at the end of the Avenue des Champs Élysées and in the center of the Place de l'Étoile, which is formed by the intersection of 12 radiating avenues. It commemorates the victories of Napoleon I, under whose decree it was built. Construction was begun in 1806 by J. F. Chalgrin from his own designs and was carried on after his death by L. Goust, J. N. Huyot, and G. A. Blouet successively, who brought the arch to completion in 1836. It is 164 ft (50 m) high, 148 ft (45 m) wide, and 72 ft (22 m) deep, with colossal symbolic groups flanking the arch. The principal sculpture, La Marseillaise, was executed by François Rude . In 1920 the body of an unknown French soldier of World War I was interred beneath the arch, and a perpetual flame was lighted.

Arc de Triomphe Triumphal arch in the Place Charles de Gaulle, Paris. The Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile is a generalized copy of the triumphal arches erected in ancient Rome to commemorate the victories of individual emperors. Napoleon I commissioned J. F. Chalgrin to design this version, completed in 1836. It is one of the city's most celebrated landmarks.