Tours · Montpellier · Gate
Arc de Triomphe (Porte du Peyrou)
A monumental triumphal arch completed in 1693 to glorify King Louis XIV, marking the western gateway from the old town onto the Peyrou promenade.
Sobre este lugar
The Porte du Peyrou, Montpellier's own Arc de Triomphe, was completed in 1693 on the site of the old western city gate. Designed by François d'Orbay and modelled on the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris, it was built under the local architect Augustin Charles d'Aviler as a piece of royal propaganda in stone, celebrating Louis XIV after his armies had brought this Protestant city firmly back under the crown. Standing around fifteen metres tall in pale rusticated stone beneath a sober Doric cornice, it received its grand inscriptions and bas-relief panels in 1715. Those carvings show the Sun King as Hercules, the capture of Namur, the digging of the Canal du Midi and, more darkly, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Datos clave
- 1693 year — The triumphal arch was completed
- 1715 year — Inscriptions and reliefs glorifying Louis XIV were added
- 15 metres — Approximate height of the stone arch
📍 Rue Foch, 34060, Montpellier