Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, 16 August 2008

The ''Axe historique'' (; "historical axis") is a line of monuments, buildings, and thoroughfares that extends from the centre of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, to the west. It is also known as the ''Voie Triomphale'' (; "triumphal way"). The Axe Historique began with the creation of the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is l ...

, designed in the 17th century to create a vista to the west, extending the central axis of the gardens to the royal Palace of the Tuileries. Today the

Tuileries Gardens The Tuileries Garden (french: Jardin des Tuileries, ) is a public garden located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in ...

(''Jardins des Tuileries'') remain, preserving their wide central pathway, though the palace was burned down during the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...

, 1871. Between the Tuileries gardens and the Champs Élysées extension a jumble of buildings remained on the site of

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde () is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. ...

until early in the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

, for whom the square was at first named. Then the garden axis could open through a grand gateway into the new royal square. To the east, the Tuileries Palace faced an open square, the

Place du Carrousel The Place du Carrousel () is a public square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, located at the open end of the courtyard of the Louvre Palace, a space occupied, prior to 1883, by the Tuileries Palace. Sitting directly between the museum and the Tu ...

. There, by order of Napoleon, the

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel () ( en, Triumphal Arch of the Carousel) is a triumphal arch in Paris, located in the Place du Carrousel. It is an example of Neoclassical architecture in the Corinthian order. It was built between 1806 and 1808 ...

was centered on the palace (and so on the same axial line that was developing beyond the palace). Long-standing plans to link the

Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and t ...

, as the disused palace was called, with the Tuileries, by sweeping away the intervening buildings, finally came to fruition in the early 19th century. Consequently, the older axis extending from the courtyard of the Louvre is slightly skewed to the rest of what has become the ''Axe historique,'' but the ''Arc du Carrousel'', at the fulcrum between the two, serves to disguise the discontinuity. To the west, the completion of the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

in 1836 on the Place de l'Étoile at the western end of the Champs-Élysées formed the far point of this line of perspective, which now starts at the equestrian statue of

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

placed by I.M. Pei adjacent to his

Louvre Pyramid The Louvre Pyramid (Pyramide du Louvre) is a large glass and metal structure designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is in the main courtyard (Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace in Paris, surrounded by three smalle ...

in the

Cour Napoléon The expansion of the Louvre under Napoleon III in the 1850s, known at the time and until the 1980s as the Nouveau Louvre or Louvre de Napoléon III, was an iconic project of the Second French Empire and a centerpiece of its ambitious transforma ...

of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

. The axis was extended again westwards along the

Avenue de la Grande Armée The Avenue de la Grande Armée is an avenue in Paris, France, marking the boundary between its 16th and 17th arrondissements. It was formerly named Avenue de la Porte Maillot as part of Route nationale 13, but was renamed to its present name i ...

, past the city boundary of Paris to

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France, located west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbev ...

. This was originally a large junction, named for a statue commemorating the defence of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War. In the 1950s, the area around La Défense was marked out to become a new business district, and high-rise office buildings were built along the avenue. The axis found itself extended yet again, with ambitious projects for the western extremity of the modern plaza. It was not until the 1980s, under president

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

, that a project was initiated, with a modern 20th century version of the Arc de Triomphe. This is the work of Danish architect

Johan Otto von Spreckelsen Johan Otto von Spreckelsen (4 May 1929 — 16 March 1987) was a Danish architect, best known for designing the Grande Arche of La Défense in Puteaux, near Paris. He directed the creation of several modern churches in Denmark. Life He was bor ...

, La Grande Arche de la Fraternité (also known as simply La

Grande Arche La Grande Arche de la Défense (; "The Great Arch of the Defense"), originally called La Grande Arche de la Fraternité (; "Fraternity"), is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west ...

or L'Arche de la Défense), a monument to humanity and humanitarian ideals rather than militaristic victories. It was inaugurated in 1989. The network of railway lines and road tunnels beneath the elevated plaza of La Défense prevented the pillars supporting the arch from being exactly in line with the axis: it is slightly out of line, bending the axis should it be extended further to the west. From the roof of the Grande Arche, a second axis can be seen: the

Tour Montparnasse Tour Maine-Montparnasse (Maine-Montparnasse Tower), also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a office skyscraper located in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France. Constructed from 1969 to 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in France until ...

stands exactly behind the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed ...

. The ''Seine-Arche'' project is extending the historical axis to the West through the city of

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

, but with a slight curve.

Gallery

Champs-Elysées, vue de la Concorde à l'Etoile.jpg, The ''Axe historique'' looking west from the

Axe-magistral.jpg, The ''Axe historique'' seen from the

. DefenseDusk.jpg, The Grande Arche seen from the Arc de Triomphe on the ''Axe historique''. VBRITTO-tuileries-vers-arc-2008.jpg, View from the Tuileries towards the Arc de Triomphe. Arc De Triomphe from La Defense.jpg, The Arc de Triomphe from La Défense 5 km (3 mi) away, showing how precisely the axis is aligned. Axe-historique.jpg, From the roof of the Grande Arche, past the skyscrapers of La Défense, down the ''Axe historique''.

External links

Entry
on greatbuildings.com {{Visitor attractions in Paris, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Paris Champs-Élysées Environmental design Geography of Paris La Défense Landscape architecture Urban design