How Did the Arc de Triomphe Become a Parisian Icon?

In a bustling plaza in the heart of Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned the Arc de Triomphe as a monument to his victories -- but he didn't live to see it completed. Learn more about its history in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/architecture/arc-de-triomphe.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff.
Laurena vogebam here. As far as iconic Paris landmarks go,
it's a toss up between the Eiffel Tower and the
Octa trionf If the Eiffel Tower boasts more t shirts
and wal art bearing its image, the octatrionph has given

(00:22):
us some great film scenes with cars circling and circling it.
That's because it's located within a plaza where twelve avenues,
including La chance Luzi meet. It actually isn't the first
monument that was proposed for the spot. Some years before
the French Revolution, an architects submitted a proposal to build

(00:42):
a monument to Louis the fifteenth in the same place.
His concept was a three story elephant with rooms inside
and a trunk that would water surrounding gardens, but it
was not meant to be, and the arch was commissioned
by Napoleon Bonaparte to commemorate his Grand Army's I am
at the Battle of Austerlitz, which cinched his victory in

(01:03):
the first of the Napoleonic Wars in December of eighteen
oh five and is still considered one of the most
brilliant shows of tactics in history. Construction on the arch
started in eighteen oh six, with the first stone laid
on August fifteenth. Napoleon planned to ride through it at
the head of his victorious army. It was inspired by
the Arch of Titus in Rome, a monument built in

(01:25):
the first century CE to be fifty feet tall and
forty five feet wide that's fifteen five thirteen meters with
intricate stone carving all around. It's gone on to inspire
many similar monuments, but this French version would be much grander,
at one hundred and sixty five feet high one hundred
and forty five feet wide that's fifty by forty five meters.

(01:46):
Before the article of z epsids based on Hastuffworks, spoke
with W. Jude LeBlanc, an associate professor at the School
of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He
said Napoleon was known for never doing things on the
cheap and thinking big. The emperor called on architect Jean
francoisterre Chel Grand, who had spent some years in Rome

(02:09):
and had previously worked on projects for Versailles and prominent churches.
Perhaps Napoleon and shell Gran were too ambitious in their proportions,
because this neoclassical arch took thirty years of albeit non
continuous work to complete. It took more than two years
just to lay the foundation. It wasn't finished when Napoleon

(02:29):
married his second wife in eighteen ten, so he had
a full size replica crafted from wood so that he
and his bride could pass under it. Neither Napoleon nor
Shelgrand saw the structure reach completion. Chelgrand died in eighteen
eleven and his former people Louis Robert Ghost took over
the project, but in eighteen fourteen Napoleon abdicated and work

(02:50):
on the structure slowed to a crawl, if not a standstill,
until his death in eighteen twenty one in exile on
the island of Saint Helena. In the meanwhile, the monarchy
was reinstated and King Louis the eighteenth resumed work on
the Arctetrionph in eighteen twenty three, with the project finally
being inaugurated in eighteen thirty six by King Louis Philippe.

(03:12):
Although Napoleon didn't get to see his completed Triumphal arc.
He did pass through it when his body was returned
to France in eighteen forty. It was passed under the
Octetrionph on the way to his final resting place under
the Hotel des Invellida. Pardon my literal French. By the way,
I never studied the language, and I'm trying. The Arc

(03:35):
de trientf sits along the historical axis of Paris, which
extends from the Louver Museum to the business district of
La de France, and it's not the only arch along
the axis. At one end, the arctatrionf du Carousela, which
was modeled on the Roman arches of Septimus and Constantine,
sits between the Louver and the tou Luris Garden. That

(03:56):
one is about a third of the size and was
also commissioned by Napoleon. At the far end of the axis,
La Grande Arche was built for the bisentennial of the
French Revolution in nineteen eighty nine. It stands as a
modernist monument to the hope of peace rather than the
triumph of war, and is more than double the size
of the Arctatrion. The Octatrioph itself includes many notable sculptures

(04:19):
with work by many prominent artists on the pillars. Other
surfaces bear additional reliefs in the names of generals and
battles a bedeth, the ark Are, the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier, added in nineteen twenty one, and the Eternal Flame,
which is rekindled each evening, and due to its scale,
the Archtetrioph is known for offering one of the best

(04:39):
views of the city from the observation deck at the top,
reached by a spiral staircase. Today's episode is based on
the article how Napoleon's arquetrianph became a symbol of parrots
on how Stuffworks dot Com, written by Kerry Whitney Brings Stuff.
This production of by Heart Radio in partnership with hostuffworks
dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more

(05:00):
podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.