La Grande Arche de la Défense

The Grande Arche de la Défense, also known as La Grande Arche de la Fraternité, is located in Paris’ financial district, La Défense. This area is one of the most important business districts in the whole of Europe. In contrast with the rest of the city, this is an area with modern skyscrapers full of offices, and it’s for this reason that this monument stands out.

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The Grande Arche was inaugurated in 1989, and is more of a square than an arch, to be honest. It measures 110 metres tall and is made of marble and granite.

I think that you could previously climb up to the upper part of the arch, but it is now closed off to the general public.

If you don’t have a lot of time to see Paris, I would honestly suggest skipping this monument: it’s not massively important, it is a bit far from the centre of the city, and I think that there are prettier things that you could see instead.

To get there by metro, the closest stop is “La Défense” on line 1.