Place de la Concorde is the central square of Paris, an outstanding monument of town planning of the classicism era. Is the second largest in France.
In the French capital not far from the Tuileries Garden and the famous Champs Elysees there is the Place de la Concorde, built in the 17th century, and to this day impresses with its grandeur and beauty of the French and guests of the country. The current name - the Place de la Concorde - is a symbol of the end of troubled times and the beginning of a movement towards a more peaceful and beautiful future.
Sights of Place de la Concorde
Luxor Obelisk
A real decoration of Place de la Concorde in Paris is the Luxor Obelisk. This magnificent pillar is 23 meters high and is carved out of pink granite. Its top is crowned with a gold tip, and along the perimeter there are hieroglyphs narrating about the glorious days of the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II in Ancient Egypt. According to historical data, these hieroglyphs are over 3.5 thousand years old.
It should be noted that the golden tip appeared on the top of the obelisk much later - in 1999. For its manufacture was used about 1.5 kg of pure gold. The obelisk with a gold tip looks especially beautiful at night, in the light of lanterns and searchlight beams.
There are similar obelisks in London and New York, they are also called “Cleopatra's Needles”. But they are carved out of red granite and 2 meters below Luxor.
Fountains of the Place de la Concorde
The fountains in the Place de la Concorde were designed by renowned French architect Jacques-Ignatius Hittorf on the instructions of the royal family. After installing the Luxor Obelisk, it was necessary to transform the square and give it a finished look. And now, 4 years later, on May 1, 1840, magnificent monumental fountains appeared on both sides of the obelisk, which were reduced copies of Roman fountains from St. Peter's Square. One of them was named the Fountain of Four Rivers, and the second - the Fountain of the Seas. These names and their architectural design are not accidental - the Ministry of the Navy of France is located on the Place de la Concorde.
The height of the fountains of the Place de la Concorde is small, only 9 meters, but they look majestically and luxurious. They are decorated with magnificent statues of mythical sea and river heroes and columns gilded around the perimeter. The fountain bowls have an unusual shape; a powerful cascade of water with splashes carried by the wind is ejected from them.
Separate words are deserved by the wonderfully executed illumination, which, at night, skillfully highlights the jets beating from the fountains, making this spectacle stunning.
These fountains fit perfectly into the overall architecture of Concord Square, also called the Place de la Concorde and remarkably refresh the air on a hot day.
Statues of Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde is proud of its obelisk with an unusual history, majestic fountains and skillfully made statues breathing centuries-old history.
8 cities - a sculptural group on the Place de la Concorde
Each corner of the Place de la Concorde is adorned with original sculptures erected by King Louis-Philippe, which are symbols of 8 major French cities:
Strasbourg;
Marcel;
Lyon;
Nantes;
Bordeaux;
Brest;
Rouen;
Lille
The statue of Strasbourg, for which Juliette Druet, the wife of Victor Hugo, posed for her time, covered the whole period of the German occupation of the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine with a black veil and was considered a place of pilgrimage by French patriots.
These monuments are not works of art, but are striking in their enormous size, as well as the fact that in each of their pedestal in the nineteenth century, there was a small apartment rented for housing. Nowadays, under them is a large underground parking lot.
Koni Marley
In addition to the statues of 8 cities, on the Place de la Concorde in Paris there are two other remarkable sculptural groups called "Horses Marley" or "Horse Tamers". The originals of these statues, which decorated the square since 1795, are now in the Louvre, and in their place are adorned with skillfully made copies.
This was done in order to preserve them for history - the coating of sculptures began to lose its appearance from a large amount of exhaust gas.
In the evenings, the square is decorated with bright lights of illumination from fountains and buildings. Only two buildings are located in the northern part of the square. This is the hotel "Crillon", a symbol of luxury and wealth. Not far from it - the building of the Ministry of the Navy of the country. Both buildings in appearance are palaces that resemble the Louvre.
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