Paris - Place de la Concorde

The spacious Place de la Concorde in Paris, at the intersection of two main axes (Louvre-Arc de Triomphe and Madeleine-Palais-Bourbon), is recognized as one of the finest squares in the world. Originally called Place Louis-XV, with an equestrian statue of the king in the center, it was laid out by the architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel, who between 1755 and 1775 built two magniificent buildings on the north side of the square, flanking Rue Royale: to the right the Ministère de la Marine (since 1792; originally the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, the royal furniture store), to the left the elegant Hôtel Crillon.

During the French Revolution the statue of the king was destroyed, the square was renamed Place de la Révolution and the guillotine was set up here. Among the many thousands executed in this square were Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, Madame Dubarry, Charlotte Corday, Danton and finally Robespierre and his supporters.

The square was given its present name in 1795, under the Directoire.

Between 1836 and 1854 Jacob Ignaz Hittorff, a native of Cologne, gave the square its final form by erecting two fountains (the one to the north decorated with allegories of agriculture and industry, the one to the south with allegorical figures representing seafaring and fishing) and eight female figures (restored 1988) personifying France's eight largest cities (clockwise: Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest, Rouen, Lille, Strasbourg, Lyons). The lodges in the bases of the statues were formerly occupied by municipal employees (gardiens).