This triumphal arch, says a late tourist, “is one of the most wonderful
conceptions of that wonderful man, Napoleon. It was begun by him, but
finished by his successors. This stupendous fabric strikes one with
astonishment; and after we had opportunity to compare it with the
triumphal arches of the Roman emperors, we were still more impressed
with its grandeur. Dimensions are indispensable, if we would produce in
others any correct conceptions of structures or space; but they fail to
impress the mind as does the actual vision, and this is eminently the
fact with this elaborate work. Napoleon decreed its erection in 1806,
after his successful campaigns in Prussia and Germany. The plan of the
triumphal arch was furnished in 1809. The foundations were sunk
twenty-five feet below the surface, and it was only above ground in
1811. In 1814, the works were suspended, and remained neglected until
1823. After various interruptions, the pile was finished by Louis
Philippe in 1836, thirty years from the decree which gave birth to it,
and from the laying of the first stone. The cost was ten million, four
hundred and twenty thousand francs, or over two million dollars. The
monument consists of a vast central arch, ninety feet in hight by
forty-five in width, over which rises a bold entablature, frieze and
cornice. There is also a transversal arch, fifty-seven feet high and
twenty-five feet wide. The total hight of the structure is a hundred and
fifty-two feet, and its breadth and depth are a hundred and thirty-seven
and sixty-eight feet respectively. These dimensions are more than
realized by actual inspection. The panels, frieze, and pediment of this
structure, are covered by figures in bold relief, eighteen feet in
hight, three times the size of life, and those above are half of this
size. All of them illustrate the history of France, and they are chiefly
warlike. One group may be mentioned as an example. Victory is crowning
Napoleon with a laurel wreath; History is writing the narrative of his
deeds, and Fame, soaring above, is proclaiming them with her trumpet.
“The observer should ascend the monument, when he will realize more than
ever its great hight and magnitude, and its massy materials. An aged
woman at the door furnished us with a lantern for our ascent through
dark passages. The stairs are easy, although narrow, and we mounted,
without difficulty, up the two hundred and sixty-one steps. The floor
which covers the arches, is composed of very large stones, hewn into
perfect symmetry. Notwithstanding the mountain weight of this structure,
not the slightest crack in the massy stones, or opening in the joints,
can be perceived, in any part of the pile. The top affords a secure and
convenient place for observation, and from this place the observer
enjoys a glorious view of Paris and its environs. Away into the country
stretches interminably, as far as the eye can discern, a beautiful road,
almost of the same ample width as that of the broad avenue, at the head
of which the triumphal arch stands. Looking from the arch to the north,
the avenue leads through and along the Elysian Fields, the Place de la
Concorde, the gardens and palace of the Tuilleries, the Carrousel and
palace of the Louvre, all of which are in one continuous line of two or
three miles. On our right, looking east, are the dome of the Invalides,
the extensive Champs de Mars, and the Ecole Militaire near that field.
The triumphal arch of Napoleon in the Carrousel, the cathedral of Notre
Dame, and the commemorative column of July, 1830, erected on the site of
the ancient Bastile, are seen on the north-east. Alas! how much blood
has this arch of triumph cost. The places of ninety-six victories are
given on the monument, with the names of the generals by whom they were
won, the latter making an aggregate of three hundred and eighty-four.”