Unlike the latter, the Arche de la Défense has a history over a hundred years. It has just turned its first 24 years, having been inaugurated on July 14, 1989: its glasses that day reflected the amazing fireworks that lit up the sky in Paris to celebrate the 200 years of the Revolution.
La Defense district takes its name from the statue La Défense de Paris (“The Defense of Paris”), which was built in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. And the Arc, whose full name would be the Grande Arche de la Fraternité weighs 300,000 tons, is 110 meters high and was built with Carrara marble and glass panels.
To visit it (you can get there by metro M1 or yellow with the RER A) where you need to pay 10 Euros each, which are discounted at 5 on Tuesday. In summer, the Arch is open from 10:00 to 20:00, while in the winter it closes at 19:00.
How to get there
By Ina K
Photos: Calvin J. Damon Finlay , Bencito the Traveller
