Editing Place de la Concorde (section)

== History ==
=== Design and construction ===
[[File:Place Louis XV - Projet de Gabriel.JPG|thumb|left|The project by [[Ange-Jacques Gabriel]] for Place Louis XV (1758)]]

The square was originally designed to be the site of an equestrian statue of King [[Louis XV]], commissioned in 1748 by the merchants of Paris, to celebrate the recovery of King Louis XV from a serious illness. The site chosen for the statue was the large esplanade, or space between the revolving gate, the [[Tuileries Garden]] and the Cour-la-Reine, a popular lane for horseback riding at the edge of the city. At the time, the [[Pont de la Concorde (Paris)|Concorde bridge]] and the [[Rue de Rivoli]] did not exist, and the [[Rue Royale, Paris|Rue Royale]] was a muddy lane that descended down to a marsh beside the [[Seine]].<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 235</ref>

The architect [[Ange-Jacques Gabriel]] made a plan for the site and the square was finished by 1772. It was in the form of an octagon, bordered by a sort of moat twenty meters wide, crossed by stone bridges, and surrounded by a stone balustrade. At the eight corners Gabriel placed stone stairways to descend into the square, which was divided into flowerbeds. In the center of the gardens was the pedestal on which the statue stood. The statue, by [[Edmé Bouchardon]], depicted the King on horseback as the victor of the [[Battle of Fontenoy]], dressed as a Roman general, with a laurel wreath on his head. On the four corners of the pedestal, designed by [[Jean Chalgrin]], are bronze statues by [[Jean-Baptiste Pigalle]], depicting the virtues of great monarchs; Force, Justice, Prudence, and Peace.<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 235</ref>

The statue was dedicated on 20 June 1763, but by this time the King had lost much of his popularity. A few days after its dedication, someone hung a placard on the statue, proclaiming: "Oh, the beautiful statue! Oh, the fine pedestal! The Virtues are under the feet, and Vice is in the saddle!"<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 235</ref>

On the north side of the square, between 1760 and 1775, Gabriel planned and built two palatial buildings with identical façades. The classical façades were inspired by those created by [[Claude Perrault]], the royal architect, for the façade of the Louvre. They were originally intended to be occupied by embassies, but in the end the east building became a depot for the Royal furnishings, then the headquarters of the [[French Navy]], the [[Hôtel de la Marine]]. The west building was divided into individual properties for the nobility.<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 236</ref>

=== French Revolution ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Vue de l'ordre et de la marche des cérémonies 1763.jpg|Ceremony on the Place Louis XV in 1763
File:Execution of Louis XVI.jpg|[[Execution of Louis XVI]] on the future Place de la Concorde on 21 January 1793
File:La fournée des Girondins 10-11-1793.jpg|Execution of the [[Girondins]] on 31 October 1793
</gallery>

Beginning in 1789, the square was a central stage for the events of the [[French Revolution]]. On 13 July 1789, a mob came to the Hôtel de la Marine and seized a store of weapons, including two old cannon, gifts from the King of Siam, which fired the first shots during the [[storming of the Bastille]] on 14 July 1789. On 11 August 1792, the statue of Louis XV was pulled down and taken to a foundry, where it was melted down. A few months later, a new statue, "Liberty", by the sculptor [[François-Frédéric Lemot]], took its place; it was a figure wearing a red liberty cap and holding a lance. The Place Louis XV ("Louis XV Square") became the Place de la Revolution ("Revolution Square").

In October 1792, the first executions by guillotine in the square took place. The two people who were executed were thieves who had stolen the royal crown diamonds from the Hotel de la Marine. On 21 January 1793, King [[Louis XVI]] was executed there, followed in the same year on 16 October by Queen [[Marie Antoinette]]. As the [[Reign of Terror]] commenced, the guillotine was set up again on 11 May 1793, midway between the Statue of Liberty and the turning bridge at the entrance to the Tuileries Garden, and remained there for thirteen months. Of the 2,498 persons guillotined in Paris during the Revolution, 1,119 were executed on the Place de la Concorde, 73 on the [[Place de la Bastille]] and 1,306 on the [[Place de la Nation]]. Besides Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, others executed on the same site included [[Charlotte Corday]] and [[Madame du Barry]]. During the later days of the Reign of Terror in 1794, [[Georges Danton]], [[Camille Desmoulins]], [[Antoine Lavoisier]], [[Maximilien Robespierre]], and [[Louis de Saint-Just]] were executed there. The last executions, those of the [[Prairial]] riot participants, were carried out on the Place de la Concorde in May 1795.<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 236</ref>

=== 18th and 19th century: Monuments and fountains ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:GiuseppeCanella-PlaceLouisXVI.JPG|The Place de la Concorde in 1829, before the modifications by King [[Louis-Philippe]]
File:Érection de l'obélisque de Louqsor sur la place de la Concorde.jpg|The erection of the Luxor Monument, 25 October 1836
File:Joaquín Pallarés Allustante Place de la concorde.jpg|The square in 1872
</gallery>

In 1795, under the [[French Directory|Directory]], the square was renamed the Place de la Concorde ("Concord Square") as a gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the revolution. After the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]] of 1814, the name was changed back to the Place Louis XV, and in 1826 the square was renamed the Place Louis XVI ("Louis XVI Square"). After the [[July Revolution]] of 1830, the name was returned to the Place de la Concorde.

In 1790, early in the [[French Revolution]], the [[Pont de la Concorde (Paris)|Concorde bridge]] was constructed, and, at the suggestion of [[Jacques-Louis David]], the statues of the "[[Marly Horses]] by [[Guillaume Coustou the Elder]], were placed on the north side, at the entrance of the [[Champs-Élysées]]. In 1806, [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] began to construct the [[Rue de Rivoli]] along the edge of the square.

Under King [[Louis-Philippe]] and his prefect of the Seine, [[Claude-Philibert Barthelot de Rambuteau]], the square was remade. In 1832, [[Jacques Ignace Hittorff]] was named chief architect of the project. In October 1835 Hittorff installed the new centrepiece of the square, the [[Luxor Obelisk]], a gift to the King from the [[Wali (administrative title)|wali]] [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]]. It was hoisted into place, before a huge crowd, on 25 October 1836. Hittorff commissioned celebrated sculptors, including [[James Pradier]] and [[Jean-Pierre Cortot]] to make eight statues representing the major cities of France, which were placed in 1838 on columns which had earlier been put in place around the square by Gabriel. These statues form something of a rudimentary map, such that when viewing the Place de la Concorde from a birdseye perspective, the north-eastern states represent north-eastern cities, in the appropriate arrangement relative to one another, and so on.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.histoires-de-paris.fr/statues-des-villes-concorde/ | title=Les statues des villes de la Concorde, formant les limites de la place, valorisent les richesses économiques du pays | date=15 August 2015 }}</ref> A ring of twenty columns with lanterns were put in place during the same time.<ref>Barozzi, Jacques, "Paris de Fontaine en Fontaine (2010), p. 64</ref>

Between 1836 and 1840, Hittorff erected two [[Fontaines de la Concorde|monumental fountains]], the Fontaine Maritime to the side of the Seine, and the Fontaine Fluviale to the side of the Rue Royale. The design, consisting of two fountains each nine meters high, was modeled after that of the fountains of [[St. Peter's Square]] in Rome. In 1853, under [[Napoleon III]], the deep moats around the square, which had turned into rendez-vous points for prostitutes, were filled in.<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 235</ref>

=== 20th century: Expositions, occupation and triumphs ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Paris Exposition Place de la Concorde, entrance gate, Paris, France, 1900 n3.jpg|Entrance to [[1900 Paris Exposition]], whose vestiges include the [[Grand Palais]] 
File:Paris-FR-75-Expo 1925 Arts décoratifs-entrée Place de la Concorde.jpg|Entrance to the [[International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts]]  in 1925, which gave its name to "[[Art Deco]]" 
File:Émeute février 1934 place de la Concorde.jpg|A demonstration against parliamentary corruption in 1934 led to a riot, causing eleven deaths and two hundred injured.
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1985-1216-530, Paris, Panzer-Parade der deutschen Wehrmacht auf dem Place de la Concorde.jpg|German tanks parade on the square in 1941 
File:Parisians celebrating liberation on place de la Concorde HD-SN-99-02716.jpg|Crowds celebrating the liberation of Paris scatter from German sniper fire August 1944. [[Rue Saint-Florentin]] is in the background.
</gallery>
The square was the entry point of two major international expositions: the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Paris Universal Exposition]] of 1900, which left behind the [[Grand Palais]] and the [[Petit Palais]], and the 1925 [[International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts]], which gave its name to the [[Art Deco]] architectural style of the 20th century. It was also the site of great national celebrations, including the victory celebrations of the end of the [[First World War]] and the [[Liberation of Paris]] in the Second World War. It experienced violent confrontations. A [[6 February 1934 crisis|far-right demonstration]] in 1934 turned violent, with eleven deaths and two hundred injured.<ref>Fierro, Alfred, "Histoire et Dictionnaire de Paris" (1996), p. 643</ref> It also hosted triumphant celebrations of sporting events such as the [[France national football team|French national team]]'s victory in the [[1998 FIFA World Cup]].

=== 21st century: Olympic and Paralympic Games, removal of traffic ===
[[File:2024 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony - coloured smoke.jpg|thumb|[[2024 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony|Opening ceremony of the  Paralympic Games]] in August 2024]]
The square continues to be the location for the focal point of the [[Bastille Day military parade]] down the [[Champs-Élysées]], with the [[President of France]] and invited guests watching the parade from the square.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-07-14 |title=European leaders join Macron for Bastille Day parade - Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-nationalday-parade/european-leaders-join-macron-for-bastille-day-parade-idUSKCN1U9094?il=0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714171949/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-nationalday-parade/european-leaders-join-macron-for-bastille-day-parade-idUSKCN1U9094?il=0 |archive-date=14 July 2019 |access-date=2021-11-04 |newspaper=Reuters}}</ref>

In 2024, the square was the venue for 4 sports at the [[2024 Summer Olympics]] ([[Cycling at the 2024 Summer Olympics|BMX freestyle]], [[Breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics|Breaking]], [[Skateboarding at the 2024 Summer Olympics|Skateboarding]] and [[Basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics|Basketball 3x3]]), as well as the venue for the [[2024 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony|opening ceremony]] of the [[2024 Summer Paralympics|Paralympic Games.]] Temporary stands and sporting facilities were built, while protecting items such as the Luxor Obelisk. Over 25,000 people attended the square each day during the Olympics, and the Paralympics opening ceremony was watched by 35,000 people in the square.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-31 |title=Paris 2024 : sur la place de la Concorde, les sports urbains écrivent leur histoire - L'Humanité |url=https://www.humanite.fr/sports/jeux-olympiques-paris-2024/paris-2024-sur-la-place-de-la-concorde-les-sports-urbains-ecrivent-leur-histoire |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Humanite.fr |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kindermans |first=Marion |date=20 October 2022 |title=JO 2024 : les Jeux paralympiques s'offrent la place de la Concorde à Paris pour la cérémonie d'ouverture |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/pme-regions/ile-de-france/jo-2024-les-jeux-paralympiques-soffrent-la-place-de-la-concorde-a-paris-pour-la-ceremonie-douverture-1871402 |access-date=2 August 2023 |newspaper=[[Les Echos (France)|Les Echos]] |language=fr}}</ref>

Following the Games, vehicle traffic did not return to the majority of the square, after [[Anne Hidalgo]], the [[Mayor of Paris]] announced a partial [[Pedestrian zone|pedestrianisation]] of the square in January 2024, with plans for a substantial redesign of the square in future.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-01-13 |title=Paris : la moitié de la place de la Concorde « ne sera pas rendue aux automobilistes » après les JO |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-la-moitie-de-la-place-de-la-concorde-ne-sera-pas-rendue-aux-automobilistes-apres-les-jo-13-01-2024-IJRL43DIMJHBVHRWOXKKQL6OTA.php |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Le Parisien |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Doussot |first=Candice |date=2024-10-02 |title=Paris : la transformation de la place de la Concorde plus que jamais en bonne voie |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-la-transformation-de-la-place-de-la-concorde-plus-que-jamais-en-bonne-voie-02-10-2024-QGOHRUKLXNFGZBVBN444KM6UNA.php |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Le Parisien |language=fr-FR}}</ref>