Place de la Concorde

The largest square in Paris, the octagonal shaped location was created in 1755. Statues representing eight French cities stand at the eight corners of the octagon. The two identical stone buildings on the North end of the square house the French Naval Ministry and the luxurious Hotel Crillon. During the Revolution a guillotine stood in the middle of the square and both King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed here in 1793, during the Reign of Terror in the Summer of 1794, 1300 people were beheaded in a single month. The 75 foot Egyptian obelisk that presently occupies the center of the square was a gift to France from Egypt in 1829. It originally stood in front of the Luxor Temple and weighs over 250 tons. The pedestal of the obelisk is covered with diagrams depicting the technical wizardry that was used to transport it to Paris. The two fountains on either side of the obelisk are inspired by those found in Rome and they are covered with allegorical figures representing the Rivers and the Seas.