Tourist attractions in Paris : Place de la Concorde

The Place de la Concorde is located between the Champs-Élysées and the Tuilerie Garden in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Measuring 86,400 square meters in area, it is the city's largest square.

Photo by jean-louis zimmermann

The history of the Place dates back to mid 18th century. designed by the famous french architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, the area was named Place Louis XV to honor the French king at that time. The square was decorated with statues and fountains and an equestrian statue of the king was displayed in the middle which had been commissioned in 1748. In the following years, during the French Revolution, many buildings and sites which had connections to the monarchy were destroyed. The statue of Louis XV was also torn down and the square renamed "Place de la Révolution".

Photo by Jason OX4

The Place de la Révolution was the place where the famous guillotine was erected by the new revolutionary government and it was here that King Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. The guillotine was most active during the last part of the "Reign of Terror", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. A year later, when the revolution was taking a more moderate course, the guillotine was removed from the square. In 1795, the square was renamed Place de la Concorde _square of agreement_ as a gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the French Revolution. 

Photo by MKFautoyère

Photo by Jean-François Paris

Photo by jpellgen

The center of the square is dominated by a large 3.300 year old Egyptian obelisk, decorated with hieroglyphics that praises the reign of Ramesses II. This 23 meter high obelisk is one of two obelisks at the entrance of the Luxor Temple, given to France by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mehmet Ali in 1829. King Louis Philippe had it placed in the center of Place de la Concorde in 1836. The other one stayed in Egypt as it was too difficult to move this giant 250 tones column to France with the technology limitations at that time. In the 1990s, President François Mitterrand gave the second obelisk back to the Egyptians. The technique that were used to transform the obelisk is explained on the pedestal. Missing its original cap before it reach the France, the government added a gold-leafed pyramid cap to the top of the obelisk in 1998.

Photo by dierk schaefer

Photo by beggs

Photo by vincen-t

Another main feature of Place de la Concorde is its two large fountains, designed by the architect Jacque-Ignace Hittorff. They were on the theme of rivers and seas, in part because of their proximity to the Ministry of Navy, and to the Seine. The north fountain was devoted to the Rivers, with allegorical figures representing the Rhone and the Rhine and the south fountain, closer to the Seine, represented the seas, with figures representing the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Photo by CpaKmoi

The statues which stand at each corner of the octagonal Place de la Concorde, were also initiated by Hittorff and installed in 1836. They symbolize the France cities Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen and Strasbourg.


Text Sources: wikipedia.org  and  worldsiteguides.com