Arc de Triomphe, Paris

 The Arc de Triomphe, the ginormous triumphal arch in Paris, was almost never completed.  Today, it stands at the western end of the Champs-Elysees, and is probably one of the most difficult roundabouts in the world to drive through, having absolutely no lane markings, and 11 exits.  It is however, Napoleon that we have to thank for it. He ordered the construction of numerous projects in Paris, and throughout the French Empire, after his victory over the Third Coalition, at Austerlitz in 1805. The Arc de Triomphe is by far the largest of these commissions. It was built to honour the military leaders, and the victories of the French Revolution, Consulate and Empire. He hired the architect Jean Francois Therese Chalgin for the project in 1806, and the planning stage alone took 4 years.

In 1810, a mockup of the structure was created in wood, to celebrate his marriage to the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.  After Napoleon’s abdication in 1814, all the work on the Arc de Triomphe stopped. With just one third of it built, the project was now in jeopardy.  It wasn’t until nearly 10 years later, when the French army lead by the Duke of Angoulee succeeded in Spain, that King Louis XVIII ordered the work on the Arc De Triomphe to resume, but the intent of the monument was altered to honour his army’s success. Even then, there were political arguments between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Public Works, over whose names would appear on the monument.  In the end, it took 30 years to be completed.  It is hard for an image to depict the colossal scale of the monument - it is 50 meters (164 feet) tall, and 45 meters (148 feet) wide. The work was finally completed in 1836.