Narva Triumphal Arch

The wooden structure was constructed on the then highway to Narva with the purpose of greeting the soldiers who were returning from abroad after their victory over Napoleon.

The program was meant to respond to the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris, originally erected to celebrate Napoleon's victory over the Allies at Austerlitz, but the material used was a weather-resistant plaster that was never intended to be permanent.

As has been conventional since Imperial Roman times, sculptures of Pheme offering laurel wreaths fill the spandrels of the central arch.

The main entablature breaks boldly forward over paired Composite columns that flank the opening and support colossal sculptures.

Nike, the Goddess of Victory, surmounts the arch, in a triumphal car drawn by six horses, sculpted by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg, instead of the traditional Quadriga.