Place de la Concorde

Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris and separates the Tuileries gardens from the Champs-Elysees Boulevard. It was originally called Louis XV Market and in the middle it was placed an equestrian statue of Louis XV. The market has the shape of an octagon; its construction began in 1754 and it was completed in 1763.
A period after its construction, the market has served as a meeting place for participants in the bloodiest revolution in the history of France. After revolutionaries seized power, they renamed it The Revolution Square and replaced the statue of King Louis XV with a guillotine. Between 1793 and 1795, over 1300 people were beheaded, including Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Danton and Robespierre. The name of Place de la Concorde symbolises the end of an era of suffering and the hope for a better future.
The Obelisk of Luxor, a pink granite monolith was given to France in 1829 by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali and replaced the guillotine from the Place de la Concorde. The building, which used to mark the entrance in the Amon temple has over 3300 years old and it is decorated with hieroglyphs representing the power of the Pharaohs Ramesses II and III. The obelisk that was brought in 1833 weighs 230 tons and has 22.83 meters. Having survived more than 33 centuries, the obelisk has suffered most damage in the last half of the last century due to exposure to pollution from exhaust fumes. The obelisk is a monument with four inscribed surfaces forming a pyramid to the top. Egyptians rose them by two and they were associated with sunlight which grew in thickness when approaching the ground.
In each corner of the octagon forming the market there are statues representing the French cities: Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest and Rouen. In the south-east of the market, the Concorde Bridge passes over the Seine towards the Bourbon Palace where the National Assembly is located. Near the Obelisk, in the Tuileries gardens you can find the Orangerie Museum.Less