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Metro 1, 13 : Concorde
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After our leisurely walk on the Rue de Rivoli, and my stomach happy after that delicious cup of hot chocolate at Angelina's, we are ready to explore more of Paris. And the Place the la Concorde is where we are heading to. Traffic is swirling around the square and the sun is smiling down on us. This is one of Paris' largest squares and a busy one as well. But the traffic couldn't hide the beauty of this place for me, even if it tried its best at doing so.
This octagon shaped square is dominated by a huge obelisk and I loved walking around here and taking it all in. Don't forget to go up to the Jardin the Tuileries before you cross the street towards the middle of the square though! From this point of view you have some really nice photo opportunities.... if you get here at the right time of the day that is. I arrived late afternoon, not the best of time of day. But when you go early during the day, you probably have the sun in your back, and you are able to get some lovely photos of the Place to Concorde, with the Eiffel tower in the background (see photo 1).
The statue in the foreground of the first photo is one of the 8 statues surrounding the square, created by Jacob Ignaz Hittorf. They are all placed in a corner of the octagon and represent the French cities of Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest and Rouen. In the second photo you can see the statue representing Nantes. Leave a Comment Directions: 8th arrondissement In between the Tuileries and the Champs-Elysées. Métro stop: Concorde
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Besides the obelisk, you can also see two beautiful fountains in the middle of the square. The square dates back to 1755 and was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel and has had a rather turbulent past. The square wasn't called Place de la Concorde as we know it nowadays, but Place Louis XV, after the king. During the French Revolution (1789–1799) the square was renamed again and it is now known as the "Place de la Révolution". And that name might ring a bell to many of you, as that is the square were many famous people like King Louis XVI, Marie-Antionette and Robespierre were beheaded. After the revolution the square was renamed several times and in 1830 it finally got its current name 'Place de la Concorde'.
In 1836 Jacob Ignaz Hittorf redesigned the Place de la Concorde. And he is the one that added and designed these bronze fountains that I like so much to the square. One is called 'La fontaine des Mers' and the other one 'Elevation of the Maritime'. It's so much fun to watch these fountains, especially when they are working. And that felt like something of a lottery, because one moment the water was flowing gladly over the statues, into the water basin, and the next it was all quiet again. So be quick with your camera if you see the fountains working! The show might be over again before you know it. Leave a Comment Directions: 8th arrondissement In between the Tuileries and the Champs-Elysées. Métro stop: Concorde
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After my visit at the Conciergerie and the cell of Marie-Antoinette I took the way she had followed to the guillotine on October 16, 1793. It's a long humiliating way she was forced, hands bind in her back, to do in a dirty cart.
Louis XVI had been brought to the scaffold in a closed coach 10 months before the Queen.
It's difficult to imagine now standing at Place de la Concorde with all the traffic around what was this Place de la Révolution (named so in 1792) where the guillotine stood in the years 1793-94 of the "Terreur". More than 1100 persons were executed here.
King Louis XVI on Jan. 21, 1793, Marie-Antoinette on Oct. 16, 1793 and many persons of the royal family. Leaders of the Revolution like Danton and Robespierre were also beheaded here.
Actually there were more executions (1306) at the place du Trône-Renversé presently Place de la Nation.
All those who had condemned Marie-Antoinette, the prosecutors Fouqiuer, Hébert followed her on the guillotine and showed much less courage than Marie-Antoinette.
The Musée Carnavalet has a painting of the execution of Louis XVI (photo 1) and one of the Queen (photo 2).
Before these dramatic years the Place de la Concorde had been Place Louis XV with an equestrian statue of this king sculpted by Bouchardon. The only part of this bronze statue which subsisted is the right hand now in the musée Carnavalet (photo 3). In that time there was no bridge linking this square with the left bank of the Seine like now.
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This huge square, one of the greatest and best known in the world, has had a chequered history. The land was donated from the royal estates by Louis XV as a site to place a statue of him dressed as a Roman emperor and seated on horseback! After a design contest the square, which was begun in 1757 and completed in 1772, was called Place de Louis XV: ominously, from the start the king’s statue had placards attaced to it, condemning his shortcomings and indifference to the poor. Two major palaces were built at the southern side, one now housing the Hôtel Crillon and the other the Ministry for the Navy.
Following the Revolution, the square became the Place de la Revolution, with the guillotine replacing the statue. In the 1830s, the Obelisk of Luxor was imported from Egypt: a reasonably ‘neutral’ central focus which in recent years has been given the gold pyramid which now surmounts it.
The Place de la Concorde could well be considered the ‘heart’ of Paris, sitting at the intersection of two major axes – from the Louvre through the Tuileries Gardens and Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, the other from the Madeleine across the Seine to the Assemblée Nationale. It is used for major parades and, at any time, is thronged with tourists and traffic.
Main photo: From the fountain to the Assemblée Nationale
Second phot: From the same fountain to the Madeleine
Third photo: general view of the Place de la Concorde: people and traffic.
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Ever wonder what an Obelisk is doing in Paris ? Isnt it supposed to be in Egypt ?
Well it actually comes from Luxor. Mehemet Ali, vice king of Egypt, gave it to France in 1829. It marked initially the entrance of the Amon temple, palace of Ramses III. Its twin is still in place in Luxor.
Whats written there ?
Nevermind . But when you walk closer you will notice that the whole column is bathed in hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs was the writing of the Ancient Egypt and the word "hieroglyph" means "sacred writing".
This monolith has been cut in a single block of pink granite, it is 23 m high and 1.70 m large at its base. Its weight is 230 t. The stone comes from the quarry of Syene. The surface of the needle is burnished, and 3 columns of hieroglyph are engraved on each face. They relate the reigns of Ramses II and III. It was carried out around 1550 B.C.
The transport from Luxor to Paris requires a journey of more than 2 years. That I believe is a pure showcase of man's determination or perhaps a King's gesture of friendship ? The task is quite huge that a special boat had to be built to allow it to sail on the Nile, on the Mediterranean Sea, around the French Atlantic coast, and on the Seine River with such a heavy load.
After the obelisk landed in France , it was gloriously erected at the Concorde Square on 22 October 1836 and the day marks the begining of a new icon in Paris, though foreign but blends with the Parisian mood beautifully. Leave a Comment
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Will you see a Concorde here ?
Besides being the chopping place during the French Revolution , this place offers a great view of Paris, some nice shots and a little sprinkle from the huge fountain. But remember dont stand too long near the fountan , coz you might be blocking someone's photography session - of course that happened to me , sigh. Move your butt my friend ...
Why not get lost in the middle of the square , amidst the buzzing cars and surrounded my monuments of the past ...all in one ..one in all...
the history if you are interested
The Place de la Concorde, which is the largest place in Paris, is situated along the Seine and separates the Tuilerie Gardens from the beginning of the Champs Elysées. It is in the 8th arrondissement, or district, of the city.
Jacques Ange Gabriel, Louis XV's architect, began construction in 1754 and completed it in 1763. It was thus called the Place Louis XV. The place was constructed to hold an equestrian statue of Louis XV that the city of Paris commissioned in 1748 from Bouchardon to offer to the king. The place formed an octagon bordered by large moats that no longer exist. In contrast to older places that were closed, la Place de la Concorde, largely open, served as an intersection as well as a decoration. The equestrian statue marks the intersection of two principal axis: the East-West axis from the perspective of the Tuilerie Gardens and the Champs Elysées, the North-South axis from the perspective of la rue Royale and the bridge created in alignment. With respect to urban accomplishments, it is the greatest achievement of the Enlightenment in the capital.
It became the Place de la Révolution and held in its center the guillotine that executed in particular Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Danton, Robespierre, and 2800 others between 1793 and 1795. It is said that the smell of blood was so strong that a herd of cattle refused to cross the place. Leave a Comment
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Between the Champs Elysées and the Tuileries Gardens, there lies the Place de la Concorde. With traffic roaring and careening about seemingly in all directions, it is easy to feel lost on its 84,000 square meters.
History
It was designed by Gabriel begun in 1748 and completed in 1763. It was first called Place Louis XV, and planned as a worthy setting for the royal statue. Place de la Concorde is often associated with the bloody events that took place on its pavement. In 1770, for example, 133 spectators were trampled to death at a huge fireworks display on the occasion of Marie-Antoinette's wedding to the Dauphin. A few
decades later, the revolutionaries, who were intent on eliminating all royalist monuments trom the face of the earth, removed Louis XlV's statue, dubbed the plaza Place de la Révolution, and set up their guillotine on it. Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and 1119 other people lost their lives here, among them Charlotte Corday (the murderess of Marat), Danton, Philippe Égalité and Robespierre. In order to help these bloody events on their way to oblivion, the Directory renamed the square Place de la Concorde in 1795. And, officially, the 1830 Revolution renamed it Place de la Concorde. Leave a Comment
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Many of us rush around the fringes of Place de la Concorde underneath on the metro, on top on the bus, or skirt the edges on foot. It takes some doing to get yourself into the Place itself [3 crosswalks the way I went], but once there it is a surprisingly quiet oasis as Paris bustles around you.
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Its current name hides its history as Place de la Revolution during the period of French history when heads rolled here ... Now you see the famous obelisk, given as a gift to Louis Phillipe as well as the fantastic fountains representing Neptune and his realm.
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It was originally built under Louis XV, and had a statue of him at the center, which was replaced after the Revolution by the obelisk from Luxor. Among those who lost their heads here between 1793-95 were Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Danton, & Robespierre.
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The base of the obelisk shows how is was constructed. Leave a Comment
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Parisians have long diced with death at the Place de la Concorde. Over a hundred were trampled here at a fireworks display to celebrate the marriage of the future Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette and it wasn't all that many years later that the king and the queen (along more than a thousand others) were to meet their fate on the guillotine that was set up here during the bloody years of the Revolution. These days it's drivers, seemingly treating the place as a racetrack, and tourists, keen to examine the central obelisk more closely, who uphold the tradition.
This is the biggest square in Paris, surrounded by grand buildings and eight statues depicting the major cities of France, with lovely fountains and two handsome colonnades. Right in the centre - the hub around which all the cars swirl and race - is a magnificent pink granite Egyptian obelisk. 3300 years old, 23 metres high and weighing over 200 tonnes, it replaces both the statue of the king whose reign the square was built to glorify and the dreaded guillotine -symbol of all the excesses of the Reign of Terror. Placed here in 1832 (after a journey from Egypt that took three years and considerable engineering skill) the obelisk was seen as a splendidly non-political monument after the turbulence of the past.
leyle Leave a Comment Directions: Between the Champs Elysees and the Tuileries Gardens.
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The Place de la Concorde is a very large square in the middle of Paris. It was here that Revolutionary France beheaded their King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette (who on being told that the peasants were starving and had no bread to eat, is famously said to have replied "Let them eat cake") with the Guillotine. As is the way with many revolutions, two of the most important revolutionaries were also killed here at the hands of Madame Guillotine. In those days this square was called Place de la Revolution.
The picture shows the 3200 year old Egyptian obelisk against the Eiffel Tower and one of the several statues in the square. Leave a Comment
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