<P> Inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus, the Arc de Triomphe has an overall height of 50 metres (164 ft), width of 45 m (148 ft), and depth of 22 m (72 ft), while its large vault is 29.19 m (95.8 ft) high and 14.62 m (48.0 ft) wide . The smaller transverse vaults are 18.68 m (61.3 ft) high and 8.44 m (27.7 ft) wide . Three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919 (marking the end of hostilities in World War I), Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane under the arch's primary vault, with the event captured on newsreel . </P> <P> Paris's Arc de Triomphe was the tallest triumphal arch until the completion of the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City in 1938, which is 67 metres (220 ft) high . The Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, completed in 1982, is modelled on the Arc de Triomphe and is slightly taller at 60 m (197 ft). </P> <P> The Arc is located on the right bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues . It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes . Laying the foundations alone took two years and, in 1810, when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his bride Archduchess Marie - Louise of Austria, he had a wooden mock - up of the completed arch constructed . The architect, Jean Chalgrin, died in 1811 and the work was taken over by Jean - Nicolas Huyot . During the Bourbon Restoration, construction was halted and it would not be completed until the reign of King Louis - Philippe, between 1833 and 1836, by the architects Goust, then Huyot, under the direction of Héricart de Thury . On 15 December 1840, brought back to France from Saint Helena, Napoleon's remains passed under it on their way to the Emperor's final resting place at the Invalides . Prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was displayed under the Arc during the night of 22 May 1885 . </P> <P> The sword carried by the Republic in the Marseillaise relief broke off on the day, it is said, that the Battle of Verdun began in 1916 . The relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations . On 7 August 1919, Charles Godefroy successfully flew his biplane under the Arc . Jean Navarre was the pilot who was tasked to make the flight, but he died on 10 July 1919 when he crashed near Villacoublay while training for the flight . </P>

Who commissioned the construction of the arc de triumph