Lesson 03. 19th Century

The cover of the Sway: Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (Triumphal Arch of the Star) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon 1st (Bonaparte) at the peak of his fortunes. During the Bourbon Restoration, construction was halted and it would not be completed until the reign of King Louis-Philippe, between 1833 and 1836, by the architects Goust, then Huyot, under the direction of Héricart de Thury.