Place de la
Concorde
Metro : Concorde
This
immense esplanade, bordering the Seine and sitting at the foot of the
Champs-Elysées, has played host to some of the city’s most
important events. Designed by the architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel at the
behest of Louis XV, its centre was initially adorned with a statue of
the King on horseback, a statue destroyed during the French Revolution.
At that time the Place Louis XV then becoming the bloody theatre for
public executions. The guillotine, standing where the King’s statue had
before, taking the heads of more than 1200 people during a two and a
half year period. Amongst those to lose their heads here were Louis
XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Charlotte Corday, Danton and Robespierre,
himself responsible for sending hundreds to the dreadful fate he ended
up sharing. Renamed Concorde during the period of national
reconciliation, it was not until the 19th century that the place took
on its current form with its triple lampposts crowned with ships
representing Paris, and above all its enormous obelisk, planted in the
place’s geometric centre in 1836. A gift to Charles X in 1829 from
Mohammed Ali Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, this masterpiece of antiquity
came directly from the Temple of Ramses at Luxor. Dating back 3300
years and weighing 220 tonnes it is Paris’ most ancient monument. On
its base is engraved the story of its journey from Egypt to France,
until its erection on this spot. The place is also adorned with two
magnificent green bronze fountains and with 8 statues symbolising
France’s greatest cities. At the north end of the place is located the
Hôtel Crillon, one of Paris’ most prestigious buildings.
10 mn walking from Etoile Palace,
Avenue Franklin Roosevelt,
