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Arc de triomphe de l’Étoile:
L’arc de triomphe de l’Étoile souvent appelé simplement l’Arc de Triomphe, dont la construction, décidée par l’empereur Napoléon Ier, débuta en 1806 et s’acheva en 1836 sous Louis-Philippe, est situé à Paris, dans le 8e arrondissement. Il s’élève au centre de la place Charles-de-Gaulle (anciennement place de l’Étoile), dans l’axe et à l’extrémité ouest de l’avenue des Champs-Élysées, à 2,2 kilomètres de la place de la Concorde. Haut de 49,54 m, large de 44,82 m et profond de 22,21 m, il est géré par le Centre des monuments nationaux1. La hauteur de la grande voûte est de 29,19 m et sa largeur de 14,62 m. La petite voûte mesure 18,68 m de haut et 8,44 m de large. Le monument pèse 50 000 t, 100 000 t en prenant en compte les fondations qui s’enfoncent à 8,37 m de profondeur. Le coût total de la construction est de 9 651 116.
La place de l’Étoile forme un énorme rond-point de douze avenues percées au xixe siècle sous l’impulsion du baron Haussmann, alors préfet du département de la Seine. Ces avenues « rayonnent » en étoile autour de la place, notamment l’avenue Kléber, l’avenue de la Grande-Armée, l’avenue de Wagram et, la plus connue, l’avenue des Champs-Élysées. Des pavés de couleurs différentes dessinent sur le sol de la place deux étoiles dont les pointes arrivent pour l’une au milieu des avenues, pour l’autre entre les avenues.
Ce site est desservi par la station de métro Charles de Gaulle – Étoile.
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At the base of the Arch de Triomphe stands a torch. Every evening at 6:30 P.M. it is rekindled, and veterans lay wreaths decorated with red, white and blue near its flickering flame. It burns in the darkness to recall the sacrifice of an unknown French soldier who gave his life during World War I.
The idea for an unknown soldier to be honored in death in France was first initiated in 1916 while World War I was still being fought and the outcome in certain doubt. On November 12, 1919, a year and a day after the end of World War I, the concept was given formal recognition and it was determined that the Unknown Soldier would be laid to rest at the Pantheon. (The Pantheon is a famous Neoclassical building in Paris that contains the remains of some of France’s most famous citizens and leaders.)
The following year, after a large-scale letter writing campaign, it was finally determined that the Unknown Soldier would be buried at the base of the Arc de Triomphe. The legislation authorizing the memorial, passed unanimously, stated:
On November 10, 1920 at the Citadel of Verdun, Auguste Thien reviewed eight identical coffins, each bearing the remains of an unknown French soldier who had been killed during the Great War. Thien selected the sixth of the eight coffins, which was transported to Paris to rest in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc de Triomphe. There the coffin remained until January 28, 1921 at which time the Unknown French soldier was laid in his permanent place of honor at the base of the Arc de Triomphe.
On October 22, 1922 the French Parliament declared the eleventh day of November in each year to be a national holiday. The following year on November 11, 1923 Andre Maginot, French Minister for War, lit the eternal flame for the first time. Since that date it has become the duty of the Committee of the Flame to rekindle that torch each evening at twilight.
