Under the Arc de Triomphe black and white Photography (2024)

FAQs

Why did they drape the Arc de Triomphe? ›

Christo went to art school in Bulgaria under a communist government. This restricted many opportunities through his art and education, so people believed the wrapping of monuments represented freedom. Christo also opposed the widespread notion that a tremendous honor is sacrificing oneself for their country.

#5 Arc de Triomphe

You can take photos of the arch from all sides. However, our favourite is definitely on the sidewalk between Avenue de Friedland and Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Best time: this place is super busy and crowded during the day. Therefore, sunrise is the best time for your shot.

The underground passage is located towards the Avenue de la Grande Armee side of the traffic circle. One can walk the underground way that will lead you right in the heart of the Arc De Triomphe.

Since November 11, 1920, the Arc de triomphe houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Discover the great stages of its history, symbol of victory and sacrifice.

“All these buildings are controversial – the Reichstag was, the Arc de Triomphe was very controversial while it was being built,” Cullen says: Christo “might have had some hidden political ideas but we can't ask him about it because he's no longer with us; besides, he would deny it anyway.”

The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Under its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War.

Between the two columns of the Arc de Triomphe is the tomb of the unknown soldier with the eternal flame rekindled every evening. You can access it and pass under the Arc de Triomphe, admire the splendid sculptures of the facade for free and without having to buy a ticket for it.

Is it worth going up the Arc de Triomphe? It depends. If you want a bird's-eye view of one of the city's most celebrated streets, it's amazing for photos and a lovely panorama of Paris. But if you're short on time — say, you have less than hour in the area — even a short walk around the base is fun.

Self-guided tour

Discover the Arc de Triomphe's interior rooms and its history, before ending your visit with an exceptional panoramic view. Visit documents are available free of charge in the monument's museum room. Available in 11 languages at the monument, they can also be downloaded now.

elevator to the museum level (one flight of stairs below the observation roof). It's an unmarked door in the southwest pillar - the one adjacent to Avenue Kleber.

Can you stand under the Arc de Triomphe? ›

To safely reach the monument you can follow the underground passageway on the Champs-Elysées that comes up at the base of the Arc de Triomphe. It's quite a sight! Enjoy a stroll around the base of the monument, which seems even more massive when you're standing right under the central arch.

The tunnel de l'Étoile is a tunnel in Paris. In the past it was a road tunnel, but since 2020 it is a bicycle tunnel. It links the avenue des Champs-Élysées to the avenue de la Grande Armée, passing underneath the place Charles de Gaulle and the Arc de Triomphe. It is around 400 metres long.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (French: Tombe du Soldat inconnu) holds an unidentified member of the French armed forces killed during the First World War, to symbolically commemorate all soldiers who have died for France throughout history.

Beneath the arch lies France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, added in 1921. A flame of remembrance there, first lit in 1923, is rekindled each evening. An annual ceremony marking the anniversary of the 1918 armistice that ended World War I is held at the arch.

Montmartre is primarily known for its artistic history, for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur on its summit, and as a nightclub district.

The Arc de Triomphe was wrapped in 25,000 square meters of recyclable polypropylene fabric in silvery blue, and with 3,000 meters of red rope. In 1961, three years after they met in Paris, Christo and Jeanne-Claude began creating works of art in public spaces. One of their projects was to wrap a public building.

Symbolic journey. Any everyday object could be wrapped by Christo in preparation for some great symbolic journey. Concealing the contents was also a means of dematerializing things within a newly consumerist society. We could also evoke the Japanese art of wrapping, celebrated in the daily life of this culture.

This triumphal arch was eventually completed in the year 1808, however, after the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo when Napoleon Bonaparte I ended up being imprisoned on the island of St Helena in 1815, the four gilded equestrian statues were returned to Austria.

Napoleon I commissioned the triumphal arch in 1806—after his great victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805)—to celebrate the military achievements of the French armies. The arch, designed by Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin, is 164 feet (50 meters) high and 148 feet (45 meters) wide.