One of the largest and most historically significant squares in Paris, the Place de La Concord was originally named Place Louis XV (after Louis XV) and was designated as the site for which a commemorating statue of the king would be erected. A few decades later, revolutionaries seized power, renamed the square Place de La Revolution and replaced the statue with a guillotine. The square soon became a major forefront for public execution and saw many famous dignitaries such as Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Danton, fall victim to the macabre enterprise. An appalling total of 2,800 executions were committed here within a mere two years -- between 1793 and 1795. It is said the scent of blood was so strong in the square that a herd of cattle once refused to cross the grounds. After the revolution the Place would change names several times over, until it was officially dubbed the Place de La Concord by the 1830 Revolution, a name chosen to symbolize the close of a less than peaceful era.

The octagon-shaped, open-air square still looks quite similar to the way it did in the 1700s, save the actual ground, which is now paved with tarmac and cement. In place of the guillotine is the powerful Obelisk of Luxor, a pink granite monolith that was given to the French as a gift in 1829 by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali. The edifice itself is more than 3,300 years old and is decorated with hieroglyphics that portray the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II. Installed in 1833, the Obelisk stands 22.83 meters high in the center of the Place, dividing the Tuilerie Gardens and the Avenue de Champs Elysees. The Obelisk is flanked on both sides by two fountains constructed during the same period.

At each point of the octagon is a statue that represents major cities in France – Marseille, Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Bordeaux, Brest, Nantes and Rouen. Directly to the north of the Place is the beautiful l’Hotel Crillon and l‘Hotel of the Navy Minister. To the east lies the Jeu de Paume and the Tuileries; the west brings the Avenue de Champs Elysees, and to the south is the bridge of the Concorde, which stretches over the Seine River.---Words and photos by Michael Rando

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