Arc de Triomphe

About this place

The Arc de Triomphe honours those who fought for France during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Names of generals and victories turn its stone surfaces into a record of military remembrance. Beneath the vault, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier added a different form of commemoration after the First World War, focusing on an unidentified individual rather than a named leader. Study both the monumental sculpture and the inscriptions. Its position among radiating avenues also reveals how a memorial can organise the visual identity of an entire part of a city.