- The Column of the Grande Armee is a Triumphal Column flanked by pavilions in Wimille near Boulogne in northern France.
- It was completed by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1810 and is modelled on Trajan's Column in Rome.
Getting There
- Location: Rue Napoleon, Wimille, northern France.
- Nearest Rail Station: Gare de Boulogne Tintelleries.
Description
- The column was built to celebrate the impending invasion of England by Napoleon Bonaparte.
- He then cancelled the invasion and instead the column celebrates the first award of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (Legion d’honneur), the highest military and civil order of merit in France.
- The Column has a height of 173 feet (53m) and was constructed in the style of a Triumphal Column of the Corinthian order.
- A statue of Napoleon was placed on top of the column in 1841. A new statue of Napoleon replaced the old statue in 1962. To the right of the column is a free museum which houses the original statue.
- The column has a spiral staircase to the top which is open to the public.
Caligula’s planned invasion of England from Boulogne (39-40 CE)
- The Column was built on the site of the former Boulogne Roman Lighthouse which fell down in 1644.
- Between 39-40 CE, Caligula planned an invasion of Britannia and assembled the Legions of Germany on the Channel Coast.
- The Roman Lighthouse was built in c.40 CE by Caligula for this attempt to invade Britannia and it remained lit until it was switched off in 475 CE.
- Suetonius states that Caligula changed his mind about the Invasion, and ordered the troops to collect sea shells instead and to bring them back to Rome.
- Finally, in 43 CE, Claudius successfully used Boulogne to launch the Roman Conquest of Britannia.
- In a case of history repeating itself in the same location, almost 1,800 yeas later Napoleon massed his army at Boulogne for an invasion of England, and then he also changed his mind and called it off.
- The Roman Lighthouse was a 12 storey octagonal Tower 180-195 ft (55-60m) high, almost identical to the later Dover Roman Lighthouse, with which it was intervisible.
- A seventeenth century CE engraving of the Lighthouse is kept in the Boulogne Castle Museum.
Photo and map: Column of the Grande Armee, Wimille