Arc de Triomphe
巴黎凯旋门
巴黎凯旋门坐落在巴黎市中心夏尔·戴高乐广场(又称星形广场)中央，是拿破仑为纪念他在奥斯特利茨战役中大败奥俄联军的功绩，于1806年2月下令兴建的。它是欧洲100多座凯旋门中最大的一座。
巴黎凯旋门高约50米，宽约45米，厚约22米。四面各有一门，中心拱门宽14.6米。门上有许多精美的雕刻。内壁刻的是曾经跟随拿破仑东征西讨的数百名将军的名字和宣扬拿破仑赫赫战功的上百个胜利战役的浮雕。外墙上刻有取材于1792～1815年间法国战史的巨幅雕像。所有雕像各具特色，同门楣上花饰浮雕构成一个有机的整体，俨然是一件精美动人的艺术品。这其中最吸引人的是刻在右侧(面向田园大街)石柱上的“1792年志愿军出发远征”，即着名的《马赛曲》的浮雕，是世界美术史上占有重要的一席之地的不朽艺术杰作。
1920年11月，在凯旋门的下方建造了一座无名烈士墓。墓是平的，里面埋葬的是在第一次世界大战中牺牲的一位无名战士，他代表着在大战中死难的150万法国官兵。
凯旋门内设有电梯，可直达50米高的拱门。人们亦可沿着273级螺旋形石梯拾级而上。上去后可以看到一座小型的历史博物馆。馆内陈列着许多有关凯旋门建筑史的图片和历史文件，以及介绍法国历史上伟大人物拿破仑生平事迹的图片和558位随拿破仑征战的将军的名字。另外设有两间配有英法两种语言解说的电影放映室，专门放映一些反映巴黎历史变迁的资料片。在博物馆的顶部是一个平台，游人们从这里可以远眺巴黎，鸟瞰巴黎圣母院、协和广场的卢克索方尖碑、雄伟的埃菲尔铁塔和圣心教堂等巴黎名胜。俯视凯旋门下由环形大街向四面八方伸展出的十二条放射状的林荫大道。这些大道就像一颗明星放射出的灿烂光芒，因而，凯旋门又称“星门”。十二条大道中，最着名的为香榭丽舍大道、格兰德大道、阿尔美大道、福熙大道等。
This worldfamous landmark structure has served ever since the days of Napoleon as a symbol of victory for triumphanttriumphant adj.胜利的，成功的，狂欢的，洋洋得意的 French troops returning home.
If you are foolhardy enough to drive into Paris，remember that traffic entering the Arc de Triomphe has priority over anything already in the process of hurtling round it. The Arc that Napoléon intended as a celebration of his victories was not finished when the Battle of Waterloo brought his downfall. It now stands guard over the remains of an unknown solider from World War I，with the eternal flame burning under it. Radiating out from its honking，jammed centre are major roads in all directions.
Every conquest since Napoléon has brought images of the liberatorsliberator n.解放者，释放者 and citizens climbing the Arc. From above it gives a wonderful view through Paris，spectacular centre. Look along the Champs Elysées with the Seine glittering underneath. The Arc，s gallery and sculpture merits a pause，particularly Franois Rude，s panels.
The Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris that stands in the centre of the Place de l，étoile，at the western end of the Champs Elysées. It is the linchpin of the historic axis (L，Axe historique) leading from the courtyard of the Louvre Palace，a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route leading out of Paris. Its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chainmail and set the tone for public monuments with triumphant nationalisticnationalistic adj.国家主义的 messages until World War I.
The monument stands over 50 metres (165 feet) in height and is 45 metres wide. It is the second largest triumphal arch in existence (North Korea built a slightly larger Arch of Triumph in 1982 for the 70th birthday of Kim IlSung)；the Arc de Triomphe is so colossal that an early daredevil flew his plane through it.
It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlita by Napoleon Bonaparte at the peak of his fortunes and finally completed after a long pause during the Restauration in the reign of King LouisPhilippe，in 1833~1836. The sculpture representing Peace was now interpreted as commemoratingcommemorate vt.纪念 the Peace of 1815not the original intention.
The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin (1739~1811)，in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture. Major academic sculptors of France are repesented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe： Cortot，Rude，Etex，Pradier and Lemaire. The main sculptures are not integral friezes but are treated as independent trophies applied to the vast ashlar masonry masses，not unlike the giltbronze appliqués on Empire furniture. The four sculptural groups at the base of the Arc are The Triumph of 1810 (JeanPierre Cortot)，Resistance and Peace (both by Antoine Etex) and the most renownedrenowned adj.有名的，有声誉的 of them all，Departure of the Volunteers of 1992 commonly called La Marseillaise (Francois Rude). The face of the allegorical representation of France calling forth her people on this last was used as the belt buckle for the sevenstar rank of Marshal of France.
In the attic above the richly sculptured frieze of soldiers are 30 shields engraved with the names of major Revolutionary and Napoleonic military victories. The inside walls of the monument list the names of 558 French generals. The names of those who died in battle are underlined.
The Place de l，étoile was extensively redesigned by Baron Haussmann，who increased the number of avenuesavenue n.林荫道，大街，方法，途径，路 radiating from this star to twelve. In the 1860s he ran a circular road (rue de TilsittPresbourg) round the outside of the houses fronting the étoile，a planning feature intended to free the Place itself from the crush of carriages that might be expected where so many stylish tenants lived so closely together. Haussmann imposed a uniform design on the house fronts with small gardens at the back giving on to this circular road. Haussmann，s memoirs publicly noted that the official faade design，from Hittorff in his own office，was so poor that he had to mask the fronts with trees. But the uniformityuniformity n.同样，一式，一致，均匀 complements the Arc，s monumental presence. The traffic problem was not resolved，however.
The sword carried by the Republic in the Marseillaise relief broke off，on the day，it is said，that the Battle of Verdun began in 1916. The relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations. Famous victory marches past the Arc included the Germans in 1871，the French in 1918，the Germans in 1940，and the French and Allies in 1944 and 1945. Charles de Gaulle survived an attack upon him at the Arc during a parade.