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Arc de triomphe

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Arc de triomphe

The cathedral of the republic.

Paris | France

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Until the middle of the 19th century, the place de l'Etoile was nothing more than an empty space.

It was around the mid-18th century that Paris authorities began wondering how to landscape the immense five-street crossroad at the top of the Champs Elysees.

Napoléon Bonaparte, still glowing from his victory at the battle of Austerlitz, was the one to decide to construct a giant monument dedicated to the Imperial Army. The edifice was to take the shape of a triumphant arc, a vain allusion to his own military genius and to "epic" Antiquity. The scale of the project was awe-inspiring: 50 metres tall and 45 meters across. It was Jean François Chalgrin who began the designs, succeeded by architects Goust and Huyot under the directorship of Viscount Hericart de Thury.

The one and only Arc of Triomphe, towering above a bustling centre of business and tourism as an architectural and artistic beacon, will be forever linked to the French "collective unconscious." It is monumental icon in both Paris's urban and cultural landscapes.

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