Paris is the most beautiful city in which you can wander around the streets for days and admire the ubiquitous sights, among which there are often aesthetically attractive architectural structures. One of them is a triumphal arch, but not the one on the Star Square (Etoile). She has a sister". This is the arch in Carruzel Square. It will be discussed.
A bit of history
What unites the "sisters" is the purpose of their erection - the glorification of Napoleon's victories. They even began to be built at the same time, in 1806, only the main arch was ready 30 years later, and the one on Carruzel Square celebrated its opening in 1808, on August 15.
It was originally planned that the monument would serve as the entrance gate to the Tuileries Palace, but the house of the French kings burned down long before its appearance, in 1871. They didn’t refuse to erect the monument, they just decided that the arch on Carruzel Square would be an independent object.
When preparations were underway for the execution of the project, and the ruins of the burnt palace were already removed, the architects found that, thanks to the destruction of this huge house, a beautiful view of the Champs Elysees was opened. So the monument got the opportunity to become an additional decoration of Paris.
Location of the arch: where is the Carruzel Square?
The arch is located on Carruzel Square, and it, in turn, is located in the First District of Paris. It is a dividing element between the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre Museum, if you stand with your back to the museum and the pyramid, you will see the famous arch. By the way, the square was named that way, because earlier on this place there were demonstration military horse dressings (carrusels), which were founded by the King of France, Louis de Bourbon, on the occasion of the birth of his son.
Description of the Carruzel arch and interesting details
If you look at the photo of the Arc de Triomphe of Constantine in Rome (312 AD), you can find great similarities in structure and proportion to the Parisian landmark. A closer look reveals the decorative elements of the Corinthian columns of white and red marble. Roughly speaking, architects simply copied it. And although quite a lot of time has already passed, and this object is considered a landmark of Paris, many have not been able to understand how to establish this in the very center of the French capital. However, now the arch is an integral part of the square.
But this is not so bad. But the fact that the architects didn’t even bother to independently produce the “top” of the arch is already unforgivable. Previously, four horses crowned her, which were removed from St. Mark's Cathedral after the fall of the Venetian Republic. But when Napoleon abdicated, the horses were returned “almost” to the owners (the Venetians themselves stole them during a robbery in Constantinople).
The original returned to Venice, and for the second Parisian Arc de Triomphe they again made something similar - an improved copy. The symbolic figure of the World controls the wagon. From her sides are the statues of Victory. And the sculpture no longer glorifies Napoleon, but the Bourbons, but the existing inscriptions in honor of Bonaparte’s victories have been preserved.
Design component of the project
The arch on Carruzel Square (photo in the article) consists of one large and two small openings on the sides. The central part has a height of 19 m and a width of 23 m. Its ceiling is 6.4 m long and stretches 2.7 m. The side arches are smaller - 4.2 m.
The monument also includes 8 marble Corinthian columns, which are crowned with statues of representatives of the army of Napoleon. The attraction of Paris on the sides is decorated with bas-reliefs. Originally they were removed, in 1815, but after 15 years they were restored, so you can see them today.
Quadriga on top of the arch
The arch on Carruzel Square (France) has such an unusual object as a quadriga. Enough has already been written about it above, but the main thing is not said - the author of this project, a copy of the Byzantine sculpture, is the architect Francois-Joseph Bosio. It is also interesting that at the top of the arch there should have been a statue of the emperor. Work on it was almost completed, but the sculpture was still covered by a black canvas.
When Napoleon asked how soon the French and he could be proud of the new monument, they answered him as soon as the statue of the emperor was completed. Napoleon was very angry. After all, the emperor, who fully sponsored the project and was the customer of the arch, dedicated it to the army. Thus Bonaparte wanted to glorify his subjects. He ordered to immediately remove his statue, which the workers did. But the sculptural Napoleon still found its place - on top of the Austerlitz column on Place Vendome.
Arch in Carruzel Square: architect
It will be more accurate to say, architects, since Pierre Fontaine and Charles Persieux were involved in this project. Let them create a creation that is roughly called plagiarism in French, but they were really talented people. Even their names are always written next to each other, since the architects worked together for two decades long and created such masterpieces that helped Napoleon to be the "father" of the great empire.
It is worth noting such an important feature: it is Charles Persier and Pierre Francois Leonard Fontaine who are the “parents” of the most beautiful, amazing and truly grandiose Empire style. It can be called natural or natural, because such grandiose art was created purposefully.
The arch on Carruzel Square, whose style (as you might guess) is an empire, is the best achievement of architects. It clearly shows how thorough the work was done by Fontaine and Persieu, so that in the world art this style was not just a direction in the design of interiors and exteriors, but had a clearly defined aesthetics.