La tombe du Soldat inconnu - Paris
N 48° 52.418 E 002° 17.714
31U E 448321 N 5413647
Beneath the Arc de Triomphe is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War. Interred here on Armistice Day 1920, it was the first eternal flame lit in Western Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire was extinguished in the year 391.
Waymark Code: WM2P2E
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 11/29/2007
Views: 229
It burns in memory of the dead who were never identified, now in both World Wars. A ceremony is held there every November 11 on the anniversary of the armistice signed between France and Germany in 1918. It was originally decided in November 12, 1919 to bury the unknown soldier's remains in the Panthéon, but a public letter-writing campaign led to the decision to bury him beneath the Arc. The coffin was put in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc on November 10, 1920, and put in its final resting place on January 28, 1921. The slab on top carries the inscription ICI REPOSE UN SOLDAT FRANÇAIS MORT POUR LA PATRIE 1914–1918 ("Here lies a French soldier who died for his fatherland 1914–1918").
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy of the United States paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President Charles de Gaulle. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, Mrs. Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. President de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral, and he was able to witness Jacqueline Kennedy lighting the eternal flame that was inspired by her visit to France.
Near the stairs which lead from the underground passage to the ground level, there is an inscription which can be translated as "Hommage to Gabriel Boissy, 1879 - 1949, who had the idea to put the flame above the tomb of the unknown soldier".
(Some text taken from Wikipedia)
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