The Arc de Triomphe is situated on the Place de l’Etoile which originally was a 5-meter-high hill,  levelled in 1774. The dirt which was recovered, was used to shore up the Champs-Elysées. In 1787, two massive monuments were placed there, which served as a sort of customs gateway into Paris.

Construction for the Arc de Triomphe, ordered by Napoleon on his return from Austerlitz, got underway in 1806. The masonry was completed only in 1831, and in 1836, names of battles and of 600 generals of the Napoleon empire were engraved on the monument. For its inaugurations, the current king, Louis Philippe came in person to inaugurate the Arch.

The Arc de Triomphe is the largest and tallest arch ever built in the world. In volume, it is 20 times larger than the Septime Severe in Rome, and in weight (50,000 tons), it is 7 times heavier than the Eiffel Tower. It has never been finished. A variety of projects were proposed to crown its summit, but in fact none of them were ever executed.

On January 28, 1921, an anonymous soldier was buried under the Arch, and an eternal flame was lit in his honor.