Description
The Arco della Pace (Arch of Peace) is Milan's neoclassical triumphal arch, at the start of Corso Sempione, at the end of Parco Sempione, behind the Castello Sforzesco. Three archways, fluted columns and a large bronze sculpture on top: it is the monument that sets the scene for the neighborhood.
It was born as an Arch of Victory, for Napoleon. It was finished as an Arch of Peace, for the Austrian emperor. And at the origin of it all is an arch of canvas, plaster and timber, put up in a few days for a wedding.
In January 1806 Luigi Cagnola designed it for the wedding of Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais and Augusta of Bavaria. It was so popular that the city immediately wanted a real one, in marble.
The foundation stone was laid in 1807, a year after the French victory at Jena. But in 1814, with the arch two-thirds done, Napoleon's kingdom collapsed and the construction site stopped.
It was resumed in 1826 by Francis I of Austria, who dedicated it to the peace of the Congress of Vienna. It was inaugurated in 1838, and in 1859 Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II passed beneath it in triumph.
On top is the Sestiga della Pace: the goddess's chariot drawn by six bronze horses, with four Victories on horseback at the corners. The group, which weighs over ten tons, is the work of Abbondio Sangiorgio and Giovanni Putti.
The arch is 25 meters high and 24 wide, in Baveno granite faced with stone. Also don't miss the reliefs on the front, with the personifications of the rivers of Lombardy-Venetia.
The story goes that the Sestiga faced France and that the Austrians turned it around out of spite toward the city. It is only a legend: it was put up there in 1837, under the Austrians, already facing Milan, like Peace entering the city.
Another mistaken belief is reported by Hemingway in "A Moveable Feast": that the arch is aligned with the triumphal arches of Paris, the Carrousel and the Étoile. It is not.
It was born as an Arch of Victory, for Napoleon. It was finished as an Arch of Peace, for the Austrian emperor. And at the origin of it all is an arch of canvas, plaster and timber, put up in a few days for a wedding.
In January 1806 Luigi Cagnola designed it for the wedding of Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais and Augusta of Bavaria. It was so popular that the city immediately wanted a real one, in marble.
The foundation stone was laid in 1807, a year after the French victory at Jena. But in 1814, with the arch two-thirds done, Napoleon's kingdom collapsed and the construction site stopped.
It was resumed in 1826 by Francis I of Austria, who dedicated it to the peace of the Congress of Vienna. It was inaugurated in 1838, and in 1859 Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II passed beneath it in triumph.
On top is the Sestiga della Pace: the goddess's chariot drawn by six bronze horses, with four Victories on horseback at the corners. The group, which weighs over ten tons, is the work of Abbondio Sangiorgio and Giovanni Putti.
The arch is 25 meters high and 24 wide, in Baveno granite faced with stone. Also don't miss the reliefs on the front, with the personifications of the rivers of Lombardy-Venetia.
The story goes that the Sestiga faced France and that the Austrians turned it around out of spite toward the city. It is only a legend: it was put up there in 1837, under the Austrians, already facing Milan, like Peace entering the city.
Another mistaken belief is reported by Hemingway in "A Moveable Feast": that the arch is aligned with the triumphal arches of Paris, the Carrousel and the Étoile. It is not.