The Column of the Grande Armée is a marble victory column in Wimille, near Boulogne-sur-Mer. Étienne-Éloi Labarre designed it in the Corinthian order, modeled on Trajan's Column. It is about 174 feet (53 meters) tall, and the first stone was laid on October 9, 1804. It commemorates the first award of the Legion of Honour at the camp of Boulogne, on August 16, 1804.
Work stopped in 1811 with the column at 20 of its planned 50 meters, because funds ran out, and stopped completely in 1814. It resumed in 1819. The 1841 statue of Napoleon in coronation costume, by François Joseph Bosio, was placed on top on August 15, 1841.
Bombing in 1944 seriously damaged the column and statue. Pierre Stenne's new 16-foot (4.75-meter) Napoleon was inaugurated on June 24, 1962, with Charles de Gaulle present. The column can be climbed again, and a free museum holds the 1841 statue.
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