You may not have known this, butthe Arc de Triomphe as you know it very nearly never came to be. In fact, an elephant some sixty meters tall could have taken its place. Inside? Concert halls, apartments for visitors, a fountain gushing from its trunk… A crazy project, rejected by Louis XV.
A giant elephant in place of the Arc de Triomphe
But why was such a monument to be built? Architect Charles-François Ribart de Chamoust’s idea was simple: to cap the Champs-Élysées with a colossal animal. An eccentric monument in honor of the king, it would have housed a concert hall, ballrooms, and apartments reserved for the kingdom’s official guests.
In the end, the triumphal elephant would never see the light of day… King Louis XV rejected the project. In his view, it celebrated the glory of Hannibal more than his own. Ultimately, it was the Arc de Triomphe as we know it today that would be erected! On August 15, 1806, the cornerstone was laid. Four architects succeeded one another on the construction site: Chalgrin, Goust, Huyot, and Blouet. Thirty years later, the Arc de Triomphe was finally inaugurated!
Visite de l'Arc de Triomphe - 4.72 · 92 reviews
You enter through the underground passage at the top of the Champs-Élysées, and then climb 284 steps to reach the terrace, from which the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré-Cœur, Les Invalides, the Panthéon, and the towers of La Défense can be admired day and night. An unmissable landmark of the capital that you must visit at least once in your life!