CONTINUE TOWARD A MONUMENT THAT IS SUPERB AND TRAGIC
Enthralled by a victorious campaign, Louis XIV had the 14th-century rampart torn down, making the Boulevards that replaced them a shortcut to Versailles...
(Campaign 1672, rampart demolished 1674)
Plan of Paris toward 1640 / zoom
Then he had this arc built on the site of the Saint-Denis gate:
Erasing the protection of ramparts
that were universally taken for granted
announced that attacking the city was unthinkable.
That trumpeted French domination.
End of this mini-section.
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