Place de la Concorde

The Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris. It is located between the Champs-Elysées and the Jardin des Tuileries, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Here you will find the Hôtel de Crillon, the Hôtel de la Marine, two fountains, and in the center, a 22-meter-high obelisk.

During the French Revolution, when it was called Place de la Révolution, it was one of the sites of large gatherings, and a guillotine was installed there. During this period of Terror, between 1792 and 1793, 2,498 people were guillotined in Paris, including 1,119 in this square, among them Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Corday, Philippe d'Orléans, Danton, Malesherbes, and Lavoisier. At the end of the Terror, the Directory renamed this place Place de la Concorde. In 1836, Louis-Philippe I erected an obelisk there, gifted by the Viceroy of Egypt, Méhémet Ali. Thus, he wished that it would "not recall any political event."