The Exposition Universelle in Pariscelebrated the arrival of a new century. Countries from around the world were invited to present their achievements and lifestyles, the similarities and differences between them. The fair has not reached a planned financial success, as not enough tickets were sold. And it was said the price of the entrance ticket was too high.

The Monumental Gate

Many of the buildings constructed for the exhibition were demolished after the fair was over. One of them was the controversial Porte Monumentale on the Place de la Concord, the triumphal gateway with fifty six ticket offices for exhibition visitors. Created by the architect Rene Binet as an iconic work of art it's design was inspired with animalistic and floral shapes, the cells of a beehive, vertebrae of a dinosaur, peacocks and for its strange shape it was suprisingly disliked by the exhibition visitors and soon nicknamed >>La Salamanda>the triumph of prostitution