Place de la Concorde – History in 3 Acts

Place de la Concorde is undoubtedly one of the most impressive squares in Paris (second perhaps only to Place de l'Etoile, which is at the end of the Rue de la Concorde).Champs Elysees) However, some of you, who have passed through it on the way toTuileries Gardens וThe Louvre Museum , ToThe Church of the Magdalene Or the Left Bank, do you really know its story?

Today I want to tell you the story of this beautiful square. As you will see, there is quite a bit of blood, fire, and smoke in this story. Don’t believe me? You are invited to watch a “virtual tour” of the square that I created using the game Assassin's Creed Unity Then keep reading.

Act One: Place Louis XV

Our story begins in 1748, when Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762) was commissioned to sculpt a monumental statue of Louis XV on horseback. The statue was commissioned to honor the king's recovery from a serious illness, and as a side note, another result of this miraculous recovery is the church of Sainte-Genevieve, which would later becomePantheonBut that's another story.

Such a statue needed a suitable location, which was no easy task, as Paris at the time had few free spaces. In the end, the choice fell on a relatively empty plot of land west of the Tuileries Gardens that could have been used as a royal square. The famous architect Gabriel (Ange-Jacques Gabriel 1698-1782) was entrusted with the task, and he completed the square in 1757.

In order to create a royal impression, Gabriel decided to build two palaces on the northern part of the square, which would balance the Palais Bourbon, which is located south of the square on the left bank of the Seine.

The Eastern Palace began as the home of the Royal Furniture Commissioner and eventually became the office of the Royal Naval Headquarters (Hôtel de Marine). But don't let the name fool you. Although it was a military base, in terms of grandeur and splendor it rivaled the finest palaces. ParisTo my great joy, the renovations of this palace are currently nearing completion and it will be opened to the general public. Here is a short video that describes what you can expect to see when you visit there:

To better understand the fascinating history of this building and to visit it, you are invited to read Ronen Sass's wonderful article. Hôtel de la Marine – the new flagship of museums in Paris.

If the eastern palace served its time, the palace to the west, the Hôtel de Crillon, named after the Duke de Crillon, became a residential building where the Duke's descendants lived until 1907. What is interesting is that, unlike many buildings in France called hotels (such as theHotel de Ville in Paris), this hotel eventually became a hotel (one of the most luxurious in Paris). If you would like to stay there on your next visit, you are welcome to click on theLink thisAnyone who is a little scared by the prices can just watch this short video to see what they are missing out on.

In 1763, the statue of Louis XV was placed in the square, and what a statue it was! Louis XV dressed in the clothes of a Roman emperor, proudly riding a horse, all majesty and glory. This is what would become of the victor of the Battle of Fontenoy, which took place about 15 years earlier. It is only a pity that in the Seven Years' War (15-15), Louis XV was a little less successful and emerged from it without Canada, the French colony in India, and most importantly, without the popularity he had previously enjoyed.

At this time, Louis XV was no longer called “the much-beloved king” by the French (the title he received in the 15s), but had become a rather hated king. Not only that, but it seems as if the “fear” that had attached itself to the king during the Seven Years’ War and during the last years of his reign had moved to this square.

On June 30, 1770 (my birthday), the Dauphin Louis (the future King Louis XVI) and his new wife decided Marie Antoinette  To celebrate their marriage in the Place de la Concorde. Everyone was invited to this celebration, including the crowd, who arrived drunk as a rat (in honor of the festivities, all the fountains contained wine, not water). All these people crowded into the square via Rue Royal, which at that time was the only entrance to the square (Rue de Rivoli and the Pont de la Concorde did not yet exist).

But then disaster struck. As a result of several fireworks, one of the temporary structures in the square called the “Temple of Marriage” caught fire and began to burn. As a result of the fire, panic began in the square and everyone who could tried to escape via Rue Royal to the north. The result: 133 people died, either as a result of the fire or as a result of being trampled to death by the crowd.

It certainly wasn't a good way to start a royal career. If only the royal couple knew what awaited them in this square in 23 years...

Act Two – Revolution Square

Despite the disaster at the beginning of the square's life, things quickly returned to normal. However, in 1789, French Revolution And the revolutionaries decide to destroy the statue of Louis XV and change its name from “Place Louis XV” to “Place de la Revolution.” In place of the king’s statue, the revolutionaries placed a huge allegorical statue depicting Liberty, wearing a revolutionary hat and holding a spear.

At the same time, the revolutionaries decided to take the stones that were left from the Bastille, which they destroyed, and build a bridge from them, which would connect the square with the Left Bank. That is why if one of your friends asks you where the Bastille can be found, you are welcome to send them to the Pont de la Concorde…

In November 1792, another “attraction” was placed in the square, namely the guillotine. For the first time, criminals who had broken into one of the nearby palaces and stolen jewelry were beheaded by it (the goal was that the punishment would be carried out near the scene of the crime). However, on January 21, 1793, a much more important “guest” arrived there and made the square associated with executions.

In 1791, Louis XVI and his family attempted to escape but were arrested in the town of Varenne in the region. LorraineFrom that moment on, her position over the royal family deteriorated, until it was decided to imprison them in the Temple Fortress, which wasMarais District, and put Louis XVI on trial for treason. The result of the trial: a death sentence.

On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was taken from the Temple Fortress to the square. The carriage arrived there around 16:10 a.m. The (former) King of France ascended the platform, where the guillotine stood, and refused the offer of Charles Henri Sanson, the chief executioner of Paris, to be blindfolded. The king attempted to make a final speech, but then the soldiers began to drum, so that none of the spectators were able to hear his last words.

The executioner's assistants grabbed the king and laid him on the guillotine board. The blade fell and as a result of not laying it down correctly, it did not cut the neck but the skull. Despite all this, the executioner's assistants managed to cut off the head and presented it to the audience. A new era begins...

Freedom, how many crimes are committed in your name!

From that day on, the Place de la Concorde became the preferred place of execution for revolutionaries, and initially nobles and opponents of the revolution were beheaded there. In October 1793, Marie Antoinette, the widow of Louis XVI, arrived here (you can read about her death in the article  The end of Marie-Antoinette) and in December 1793 Madame du Barry (1743-1793), the mistress of Louis XV, who was also the last royal mistress in French history, was beheaded here. They were joined in May 15 by Madame Elisabeth (1794-1764), sister of Louis XVI.

But the revolution, like the god Saturn, quickly begins to devour its own children. At first it was the Girondins, a relatively moderate revolutionary faction, who were executed. One of their greatest supporters was Madame Roland (1754-1793), who, while standing at the guillotine, turned to the Statue of Liberty and uttered the immortal phrase “Liberty, how many crimes are committed in your name.”

Another famous woman, who belonged to the Girondin camp and was executed in Revolution Square, is Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793), one of the first feminists in French history and responsible for the Bill of Rights.

After the revolutionaries finished eliminating the Girondin faction, they began to eliminate each other. And so, famous revolutionaries such as Camus Desmoulins and Danton found their death in this place. At some point, the people who lived around the square got tired of all the blood and noise, and they demanded that the revolutionary government move the guillotine to another place. The government agreed and the guillotine was moved toBastille Square And later to Nation Square.

But the guillotine returned to the square for a kind of final “encore.” On July 28, 1794, Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), the man most responsible for the revolutionary Reign of Terror, was beheaded in the Place de la Revolution. With his death, the Reign of Terror, which had claimed some 17,000 lives, ended.

The era of the bloody revolution in the square is over. The time of reconciliation has begun.

Act Three – Place de la Concorde

There is no doubt that in 1794, with the end of Robespierre's reign of terror, the square suffered from particularly bad public relations. Not only did this square become synonymous with bloodshed, but it was also named after French Revolution, which was hated by many. As a result, the Directory, which arose following the rule of Robespierre, decided in 1795 to change the name of the square to “Harmony Square” or in French, Place de la Concorde.

If you thought that the name Place de la Concorde would remain that way to this day, you are wrong. After the fall of the reign of Napoleon I, the Bourbons return to France and try to restore Atara to its former glory. One of the first things they do is return the square to its original name, namely Place Louis XV. However, a few years later, they decide that it is more appropriate to name the square after Louis XVI, since he lost his life there.

But in 1830, the July Revolution took place and Louis Philippe I (1-1773) came to power, the son of Duke Louis Philippe of Orléans, who had voted for the death penalty for Louis XVI, and who ended up being executed in that very square. It is therefore not surprising that he was a little less fond of the fact that a square not far from where he lived was named after his relative who had been murdered there because of his father.

So Louis Philippe decided to change the name of the square back to “Place de la Concorde” and began to beautify it along the way. The guillotine, which had long since disappeared, was replaced by a huge obelisk, which the king received in 1831 from the Egyptian governor Muhammad Ali (and no, despite what quite a few people for some reason think, this obelisk was not stolen from anyone).

The obelisk was joined by two beautiful fountains by the architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff (1792-1867). The first, located in the southern part of the square, represents the maritime trade of France, while the second, located in the northern part, represents the rivers of France. Originally, two more fountains were planned, but then it became clear that there was not enough water to operate them and the plans were shelved.

In 1840, the fountains were launched and joined the obelisk, which was placed there after a long journey, in 1836. If all this does not seem magnificent enough to you, there are also 8 statues in the square, each of which represents a different city in France. Each of the statues is placed relative to the location of the city it represents:

• Rohan and Lil – in the northern part of the square.
• Strasbourg וLyon – In the eastern part.
•  Brest andNantes – In the western part.
• Bordeaux And Marseille – in the southern part.

And so the Place de la Concorde took its final form and became the most impressive square in Paris (at least in my opinion). Nothing dramatic (certainly not compared to the beheading of Louis XVI) happened in this square until the end of World War II. Then a crowd of people came to the square to cheer on Charles de Gaulle, who had arrived there fromArc de Triomphe, where his victory parade began. What is interesting is that these were the exact same people who had cheered on Marshal Patton about four months earlier.

Place de la Concorde – Tourist Information

Did reading the history of the Place de la Concorde make you want to visit it or maybe even live nearby? To help you out, I created this guide. Place de la Concorde – Tourist Information, where you will find recommendations for hotels and apartments, hiking trails that depart from Concorde Square, information about nearby attractions, and much more.