How tall is the Arc de Triomphe?
The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after the Battle of Austerlitz, where the French soldiers defeated the Russo-Austrian army and brought the War of the Third Coalition to a close. The architect Jean Chalgrin developed the design, although he died before it was completed in 1836. The Arc is modeled on ancient Roman triumphal arches, which were built to celebrate military victories, and included inscriptions and symbolic carvings or sculptures. On the inside walls of the Arc de Triomphe, the names of 558 generals are inscribed through 1895, as well as the names of major battles. There are also inscriptions at ground level that commemorate more recent events in French history, including the return of Alsace and Lorraine after World War I and the soldiers who died for France in World War II. Beneath the Arc de Triomphe is France’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was dedicated in 1921. An eternal flame attends the tomb, and the French President lays a wreath upon i
