Charles de Gaulle-Étoile: station history
Served by: metro lines 1, 2 and 6, RER A.
Did you know?
For centuries, the historic square surrounding the Arc de Triomphe was known as the place de l'Étoile. But when General Charles de Gaulle, former President of the Republic, died on 9 November 1970, the square was renamed in his honour. The RATP changed the station's name shortly afterwards to « Charles de Gaulle - Étoile ».
Anecdote
When Napoleon III came to power, he used the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by his uncle, to establish his own propaganda. He wanted to make it the central point of a modernised Paris. Between 1854 and 1858, the prefect Georges Eugène Haussmann oversaw gigantic works. He more than doubled the number of avenues, from 5 to 12 straight avenues radiating around the square, drawing a huge star seen from the sky.
Audio guide
The Arc de Triomphe, a tribute to soldiers
In the aftermath of the Battle of Austerlitz, in December 1805, anxious to honor his soldiers, Napoleon I ordered the construction of a monumental monument dedicated to the Grand Army. He entrusted this mission to the architect Jean-François Chalgrin who drew the plans inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome, but in gigantic proportions (50 meters high). Faced with the scale of the project, the delay accumulates and is finally abandoned at the fall of the Empire. It was not until King Louis-Philippe I came to power that work resumed. The architect Guillaume-Abel Blouet finished the work. And the Arc de Triomphe was officially inaugurated on July 29, 1836.
The monument is 50 meters high and 45 meters wide, on the Place de l 'Étoile from which twelve avenues start. Its facade bears François Rude's "La Marseillaise". In 1840, the funeral chariot carrying the ashes of Napoleon I passed under its vaults; on 14 July 1919, the Allied troops marched there. It houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, installed on November 11, 1920.
Anecdote: since 1921, the flame of remembrance has been rekindled every evening at 6:30 p.m.
Around Charles de Gaulle-Étoile
- Arc de Triomphe, 0 m away — A monument raised by Napoleon to glorify his armies, offering from its top a view over the twelve avenues of the Étoile.
- Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 250 m away — 1,910 m long, the avenue grew from the axis laid out by Le Nôtre, completed in 1724. Its name recalls the Elysian Fields of Greek mythology. Every year it hosts the 14 July parade and the finish of the Tour de France.
- Musée Jacquemart-André, 1150 m away — A 19th-century mansion turned museum, home to a rich collection of European art.