Place de la Concorde

Originally planned to house an equestrian statue of King Louis XV, the de la Concorde Square was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel and completed in 1772. The octagonal square featured a stone balustrade and stone bridges over a moat. In the center stood the pedestal of the statue, depicting the King on horseback as the victor of the Battle of Fontenoy, with bronze statues of virtues by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle at its corners. Two palatial buildings with classical facades, inspired by the Louvre, were constructed on the north side of the square. The east building became the Hôtel de la Marine, while the west was divided into properties for the nobility. Despite its grandeur, the statue lost popularity soon after its dedication.

Starting in 1789, the Louis XV Square played a pivotal role in the French Revolution. It was where a mob seized weapons, including two old cannons that fired the first shots during the storming of the Bastille. The statue of Louis XV was later torn down, and a new statue of “Liberty” took its place. The square became the de la Revolution Square and was the site of the first guillotine executions in October 1792. Among those executed were King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette in 1793, along with thousands of others during the Reign of Terror. The last executions occurred in May 1795.

The Concorde bridge was built during the early years of the Revolution, and the famous “Horses of Marly” statues were placed on the north side of the square. In the early 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte began the construction of the Rue de Rivoli along the edge of the square.

Under King Louis-Philippe and his prefect of the Seine, the square was redesigned by architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff. In 1835, the Luxor Obelisk was erected as the new centerpiece of the square. Two monumental fountains inspired by those at St. Peter's Square in Rome, the “Fountain of the Seas” and the “Fountain of the Rivers,” were built. Hittorff commissioned several famous sculptors to create eight statues symbolizing the eight major French cities at different directions from the de la Concorde Square. On the northwest were statues of Brest and Rouen, on the Tuileries Quay – Lyon and Marseille, the northeast direction featured statues of Lille and Strasbourg, and on the southwest were Nantes and Bordeaux. Interestingly, from 1871 to 1918, when Strasbourg belonged to Germany, the face of the statue symbolizing it was covered with a mourning veil. In addition to the eight city statues, there are two remarkable sculptural groups on the de la Concorde Square in Paris, known as the “Horses of Marly” or the “Horse Tamers.” The originals of these statues, which adorned the square since 1795, are now in the Louvre, and their places are occupied by skillfully executed copies.

The de la Concorde Square was the entrance to two major international exhibitions: the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition, resulting in the creation of the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and the 1925 International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, which inspired the Art Deco architectural style. It was the site of important national events, including the celebration of the end of World War I and the liberation of Paris during World War II. It was also where the victory of the French national football team in the 1998 World Cup was celebrated.

In January 2021, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced an ambitious 250 million euro plan to redesign the de la Concorde Square and the Champs-Élysées. The project aims to increase pedestrian areas, reduce car traffic, and improve air quality by planting more trees along the Champs-Élysées. Traffic will be redirected around the perimeter of the square, and the number of traffic lanes will be significantly reduced. In addition, four spacious green areas will be created around the obelisk and monuments, with open space in the center. A path will also be constructed to connect over 200 acres of greenery between the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées, the de la Concorde Square, and the Tuileries Garden.

In 1993, the French AIDS awareness organization staged a provocative action: a giant pink condom was placed over the central obelisk.