Arco della Pace
Arco della Pace stands at the beginning of Corso Sempione in Milan, where neoclassical architecture meets Napoleonic and Austrian history. The monument commemorates peace after the Congress of Vienna.
Luigi Cagnola designed the triumphal arch, whose Corinthian columns support sculpted surfaces and bronze figures above the stone structure. Baveno granite and Crevoladossola stone form its structure.
At the summit, the Sestiga della Pace presents a bronze chariot drawn by horses, with the goddess of peace entering Milan. Victorious horsemen offer laurels around the chariot.
The arch rises above Corso Sempione, while its central opening recalls the scale and order of classical Roman monuments. Its design resembles the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome.
Construction began during Milan’s Napoleonic period, stopped after Napoleon’s fall, and resumed under Emperor Francis I of Austria. Emperor Ferdinand I attended the inauguration ceremony in Milan.
A local legend says Austrian forces turned the Sestiga towards Milan, giving the sculpture a pointed joke about France.
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