The ''Axe historique'' (; "historical axis") refers to a straightly aligned series of thoroughfare streets, squares, monuments and buildings that extend from the centre of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, to the west-northwest of the city. It is also known as the ''Voie Triomphale'' (; "triumphal way").

History

The ''Axe historique'' began with the creation of the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), 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 ...

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

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

. Today the

Tuileries Garden The Tuileries Garden (, ) is a public garden 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 1564, it was opened to the public in ...

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

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

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

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square 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. It was the s ...

until early in the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), 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 reached maturity (then defi ...

, 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 T ...

. There, by order of Napoleon, the

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

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 (, ), 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 the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxe ...

, 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, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, 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 Plac ...

in 1836 on the

Place de l'Étoile The Place Charles de Gaulle (), historically known as the Place de l'Étoile (), is a large road junction in Paris, France, the meeting point of twelve straight avenues (hence its historic name, which translates as "Square of the Star") includ ...

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 LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

placed by I.M. Pei adjacent to his

Louvre Pyramid The Louvre Pyramid () is a large glass-and-metal entrance way and skylight 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 smaller pyr ...

in the Cour Napoléon of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. The axis was extended again westwards along the Avenue de la Grande Armée, past the city boundary of Paris to

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

. This was originally a large junction, named for a statue commemorating the defence of Paris in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. 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 Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

, 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, 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 in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France. Constructed from 1969 to 1973, it was the List of tallest buildings and structures in t ...

stands exactly behind the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) 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 from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

. 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, France. 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, b ...

, but with a slight curve.

Solar alignment

As a natural consequence of the nature of the line, the sun sets behind the Grande Arche twice per year, in a phenomenon dubbed "Paris

henge A henge can be one of three related types of Neolithic Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches ...

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, A view of the Arc de Triomphe from La Défense 5 km (3 mi) away. 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

References

{{Visitor attractions in Paris, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Paris Champs-Élysées Environmental design Geography of Paris La Défense Landscape architecture Urban design Arc de Triomphe

History

Solar alignment

Gallery

See also

External links

References