Place de la Concorde

This enormous square was created to glorify a king. Laid out from 1755 by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel to frame an equestrian statue of Louis XV, it was first called Place Louis XV.

1The square of the guillotine

During the Revolution the statue was torn down and the square was renamed Place de la Révolution. The guillotine was set up here. On 21 January 1793 Louis XVI was executed, and on 16 October of the same year, Marie Antoinette. Later Danton fell here, and finally Robespierre himself. In 1795, as a gesture of reconciliation, the square was named Concorde, ‘harmony’.

2A gift from Egypt

The obelisk comes from the temple of Luxor and is more than three thousand years old. The viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, gave it to France, and moving it was an odyssey: it travelled on a ship built specially for the purpose and took years to arrive. It was raised here on 25 October 1836, before King Louis-Philippe and a huge crowd.

Its gilded tip is not ancient: it was added in 1998 to replace the one that, it is believed, was lost in antiquity.

3What to look out for

• The diagrams on the pedestal, showing how the obelisk was raised.
• The two fountains by Jacques Ignace Hittorff, dedicated to the seas and the rivers.
• The eight statues at the corners, representing great French cities.