Place de la Concorde and the Egyptian obelisk at its centre
Published on 09/23/2026 at 00:14 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Place de la Concorde is a vast Parisian square shaped around an Egyptian obelisk, with the Tuileries Garden at one side and the Champs-Élysées extending from the other. Its open layout joins eighteenth-century planning, nineteenth-century fountains and a monument from the reign of Ramesses II.
Place de la Concorde: an open square beside the Seine
The square occupies the right bank of the Seine in central Paris. It lies between the Tuileries Garden and the western end of the Champs-Élysées, forming a broad urban space within the city’s historic axis. The surrounding architecture includes the Hôtel de Crillon and other buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Jacques-Ange Gabriel designed the square in the reign of Louis XV. Work began in the 1750s, and the place was completed in the eighteenth century as Place Louis XV. Its original classical arrangement included an open central area framed by buildings and monumental entrances. Place de la Concorde’s setting remains defined by its position between the river, gardens and avenue.
From Place Louis XV to Place de la Concorde
The square changed name during the French Revolution. It became Place de la Révolution, and the guillotine stood there during the years of revolutionary violence. Louis XVI was executed on the square on 21 January 1793, followed by Marie-Antoinette and other political figures.
The name Place de la Concorde appeared in 1795 and returned after further changes during the revolutionary and Napoleonic period. It marks a shift in the square’s public identity, while the site retains its connection with the political history of France. The present name belongs to the square’s later nineteenth-century arrangement, associated with Jacques-Ignace Hittorff.
Hittorff reshaped Place de la Concorde between 1833 and 1846. His work introduced the two monumental fountains and created the setting for the Luxor Obelisk. The fountains are known as the Fontaine des Mers and the Fontaine des Fleuves, with sculptural details linked to maritime and river imagery. the square’s changing names reflect its movement from royal monument to revolutionary site and public square.
The Luxor Obelisk and Hittorff’s fountains
The Luxor Obelisk rises at the centre of Place de la Concorde. It is made of pink granite and carries hieroglyphic inscriptions from ancient Egypt. The monument dates from the reign of Ramesses II and came from the temple complex at Luxor. Egypt presented it to France in the nineteenth century, and it was erected on the square in 1836.
The obelisk is more than 3,000 years old and stands about 23 metres high. Its single shaft contrasts with the wide paved space around it and the animated forms of Hittorff’s fountains. The monument’s gilded pyramidion catches the light above the square, while the base records its transport and installation.
The fountains stand near the northern and southern sides of the place. Their bronze figures, basins and sprays form a nineteenth-century ensemble around the ancient Egyptian stone. the Luxor Obelisk gives the square its clearest vertical landmark, while the fountains spread the design across the pavement.
Place de la Concorde therefore brings together several visible layers of Parisian history. Gabriel’s eighteenth-century classical planning provides the framework, Hittorff’s nineteenth-century work supplies the fountains, and the ancient obelisk occupies the centre. The square’s identity rests on this combination of scale, stone and historical periods.
Visiting Place de la Concorde: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Place de la Concorde is on the right bank of the Seine, between the Tuileries Garden and the Champs-Élysées. Metro and bus routes serve the surrounding streets.
- The square is a broad paved urban space with heavy traffic around its perimeter. The Tuileries Garden and river quays lie close to its eastern and southern edges.
- The official language is French and the currency is the euro.
- The obelisk, fountains and surrounding façades are visible from the public square. The Tuileries Garden provides a direct landscaped connection towards the Louvre.
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Frequently asked questions about Place de la Concorde
Where is Place de la Concorde?
Place de la Concorde is in central Paris on the right bank of the Seine. It connects the Tuileries Garden with the Champs-Élysées.
What can visitors see there?
The square contains the Luxor Obelisk, Hittorff’s two fountains and façades from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Tuileries Garden and Seine lie beside it.
What makes the square distinctive?
An ancient Egyptian obelisk stands at the centre of an eighteenth-century Parisian square. Its surrounding fountains belong to the nineteenth-century redesign by Jacques-Ignace Hittorff.
