Neo- Classical architecture 

Standing 162 feet tall, it remains the world’s largest arch, a testament to Chalgrin’s training under the visionary architect Boullée. Located at the center of a star-shaped configuration of 12 radiating avenues, the arch marks the grand culmination of the long Champs Elysées vista. Four monumental and dynamic relief sculptures adorn the bases of its massive pillars, while the names of major victories from the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars are inscribed around the top. Inside, the names of lesser-known victories and 558 French generals are also immortalized on its walls.

St. Mary Magdalene, completed in 1842, stands in isolation, elevated on a 23-foot pedestal and flanked by towering 66-foot columns. The Madeleine is an immensely imposing structure, evoking the grandeur and civic majesty of Roman temples more than 1,400 years after their decline. Its design powerfully captures the essence of ancient Roman architecture, reinforcing its timeless influence on modern civic structures.

Rue de Rivoli, a striking arcaded street facing the Tuileries Gardens and stretching from the Marais to Place de la Concorde, was designed by two of Napoleon’s favored architects, Pierre Fontaine (1762-1853) and Charles Percier (1764-1838). This elegant street exemplifies their neoclassical style and reflects the grand urban vision of Napoleon’s reign.

With the design of Berlin’s opera house, Schinkel demonstrated how the revival of Greek design could influence ambitious civic architecture. The Schauspielhaus is a bold, masterful building that forgoes excessive ornamentation, instead using clean, straight lines to define the vast rooms behind its facade. These spaces are illuminated by nearly continuous bands of windows, making the design a precursor to the grand Neo-Classical department stores that would emerge on European streets some 75 years later.

St. George’s Hall, a breathtaking Neo-Classical temple, houses several courts of law and a vast concert and meeting hall. It stands as one of the greatest British buildings of the first half of the 19th century. Work on the revised design, which blends these functions into a powerful structure reminiscent of the Prussian architect Schinkel’s muscular temple style, began in 1842. The building’s grandeur and versatility reflect the architectural ambition of the era.

The immense weight of St. Isaac’s Cathedral is supported by thousands of wooden piles driven into the marshy ground beneath it. The cathedral gleams with an abundance of semiprecious stones, including 14 varieties of colored marble and 43 other minerals such as malachite, jasper, porphyry, and lapis lazuli. Its exterior columns are crafted from red granite. Following the Russian Revolution, St. Isaac’s served as a Museum of Atheism for many years. Now fully restored, it houses an impressive collection of 19th-century art.