Place de la Concorde, Paris, France

The octagonal Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris. It is situated between the Tuileries and the Champs-Elysées. In 1763, a large statue of king Louis XV was erected at this site to celebrate the recovery of the king after a serious illness. The square surrounding the statue was created later, in 1772, by the architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel. It was known as the place Louis XV.

In 1792, during the French revolution, the statue was replaced by a another, large statue, called Liberté (freedom) and the square was called Place de la Révolution. A guillotine was installed at the center of the square and in a time span of only a couple of years, 1119 people were beheaded here. Amongst them many famous people like King Louis XVI, Marie-Antionette, and Obelisk at Place de la Concorde, Paris revolutionary Robespierre, just to name a few. After the revolution the square was renamed several times until 1830, when it was given the current name Place de la Concorde.

In the 19th century the 3200 years old obelisk from the temple of Ramses II at Thebes was installed at the center of the Place de la Concorde. It is a 23 meters tall monolith in pink granite and weighs approximately 230 tons. In 1831, it was offered by the Viceroy of Egypt to Louis Philippe. The obelisk is covered with hieroglyphs picturing the reign of pharaohs Ramses II & Ramses III. Pictures on the pedestal describe the transportation to Paris and its installation at the square in 1836.

At each corner of the octagonal square is a statue representing a French city: Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen and Strasbourg. They were installed in 1836 by Jacob Ignaz Hittorf, who redesigned the Place de la Concorde between 1833 and 1846. That same year a bronze fountain, called La fontaine des Mers was added to the square. A second one, the Elevation of the Maritime fountain, was installed in 1839. Both fountains were designed by Hittorf.

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User Reviews

Chathurika Ratnasekera (2 years ago)
It's absolutely beautiful. Never imagined that most go the famous attractions in Paris were within walking distance from here. It wasn't a place I planned to visit as I've never heard of it but when passing through it was the kind of place you want to stop and look around. In every angle you see something beautiful and interesting.

Alphaeus (2 years ago)
Beautiful place where the annual Bastille Day is held. The end of the March down champ élysées. Happens every July period. Weather is pretty warm in the day. Lots of shopping along the nearby streets. A place worth checking out as you walk along Paris.

Melvin Diaz (3 years ago)
An amazing plaza connected to the Arc of Triumph. With an Egyptian obelisk and two amazing fountains. Dense traffic, but reachable on foot by pedestrian crossings. Multiple city bus tours stop here. Great place for getting pics of the arc of Triumph.

ngodinh tra (3 years ago)
It's really nice architectural, well organized and beautiful decorated for the hug capacity for the large number of tourists, which visit Paris every year. The square sometimes so busy with many of tourist buses. So paying a visit at night is recommended.

maithli j (3 years ago)
Just beautiful. The weather was wonderful they carried you was nice. After we just said in drink in the atmosphere. We went over and sat on the grass ran round and had an amazing time.

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German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.

In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).

In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.

Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.

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