La Défense

There are hundreds of high-rises and buildings belonging to the top companies in the world in this area.

La Défense neighbourhood offers visitors a different panorama of Paris. Packed with futuristic skyscrapers, this area includes a shopping mall called Quatre Temps with a variety of restaurants and retail and electronic stores.  This department store, built in 1980, was the largest in Europe during the eighties. 

As well as soaring towers of glass and cement, the district houses an open-air exhibition of over sixty contemporary works of art, squares, fountains, and hanging gardens.

The Arche de la Défense

The Grande Arche de la Fraternité, best known as the Grande Arche de la Défense or simply as the Grande Arche, is one of the main monument buildings found in La Défense district.

Inaugurated in 1989, the Arche is 361 ft (110 m) tall and shaped like a huge empty cube. It is made of marble and granite and covered with glass.

For 6 years it was possible to get to the top of the Arche de la Défense in one of their panoramic lifts to be able to admire Paris from above. As of 2023, the attraction has closed its doors to visitors and for now we cannot enjoy its views.