While not a harvest of the grain variety, it can easily be said that the Arc de Triomphe is a harvest of architecture, creating a feast for the eyes.

This monument sits dead center at the junction place of 12 major avenues in Paris. This star-shaped plaza was first known as the Place de l’Etoile, which means simply “road junction.” Later renamed Place de Charles de Gaulle to honor the former French president, the Arc sits at the end of the Champs Élysées, which the French call the most beautiful avenue in the world.

While cafes, shops and cinemas sit along the Champs Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe is the focal point of the Place. This busy thoroughfare, located in the midst of traffic and businesses, can be reached by underground walkways for pedestrians. Once there, a visitor can enter the Arc, but since there are no elevators they must walk up the 234 steps should they wish to take in the panoramic view of the city.

According to the “View on Cities” website at www.aviewoncities.com/paris/ arcdetriomphe.htm “The arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories, but he was ousted before the arch was completed. In fact, it wasn’t completed until 1836 during the reign of Louis-Philippe.

“The Arc de Triomphe is engraved with names of generals who commanded French troops during Napoleon’s regime.”

The building of the Arc was quite a feat – it took two years to lay the foundation. In 1810, when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his bride, the Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed.

The arch was designed by Jean Chalgrin and is based on the Arch of Titus, which is located in Rome. The website shares, “The triumphal arch is adorned with many reliefs, most of them commemorating the emperor’s battles. Among them are the battle of Aboukir, Napoleon’s victory over the Turkish and the Battle of Austerlitz, where Napoleon defeated the Austrians.

“The best known relief is the Departure of the Volunteers in 1792, also known as the Marseillaise.”

The Arc has been the scene of many marches into the city of Paris. Not all of the marches were happy events for the French populace – they include the Germans in 1871, the French in 1918, then the Germans again in 1940, with the French and Allies marching into the city in 1944 and 1945.

The Arc is not only a point of interest because of the history behind it, but because of the beauty of the architecture and its size. The Arc rises 162 feet in height, and is 148 feet wide and 72 feet deep. The Arc is decorated on almost every surface, with even the top of the arch hosting 30 shields, each bearing the name of one of Napoleon’s successful battles.

Today the Arc is also a memorial for the Grave of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The Unknown Soldier was interred at the Arc on Armistice Day in 1920. A passage from Wikipedia.com summarizes that “it burns in memory of the dead who were never identified (now in both World Wars). France took the example of the United Kingdom’s tomb of The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.”

Each November, a ceremony is held on the anniversary of the armistice signed between France and Germany in 1918. A contributor to Wikipedia.com wrote: “In 1961, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy of the United States paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President de Gaulle.

“After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

“President de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral, and he was able to witness Jacqueline Kennedy lighting the eternal flame that was inspired by her visit to France.”
While it is not a field of corn or soybeans, or an historic barn or granary – and doesn’t fit the usual farm tale – the Arc is an architectural bounty.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.