Editing Place de la Concorde (section)

== Description ==
=== Luxor Obelisk ===
{{Main|Luxor Obelisk}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Luxor Obelisk in 2014 (15051263570).jpg|The [[Luxor Obelisk]]
File:Concorde Obelix (5).jpg|Illustration on the base of the obelisk, showing how it was raised into place in 1836
File:Paris Concorde obélisque 2.jpg|Hieroglyphs on the obelisk.
File:Paris Concorde obélisque 1.jpg|Hieroglyphs on the upper obelisk. The Pharaoh on his throne is portrayed at the top  
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The centrepiece of the Place de la Concorde is an ancient Egyptian [[obelisk]] decorated with [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphics]] exalting the reign of the pharaoh [[Ramesses II]]. It is one of two which the Egyptian government gave to the French in the 19th century. The other one stayed in Egypt, too difficult and heavy to move to France with the technology at that time. On 26 September 1981 President [[François Mitterrand]] formally returned the title of the second obelisk to Egypt.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unjourdeplusaparis.com/en/paris-reportage/histoire-obelisque-louxor-paris |title=The extraordinary journey of the Obelisk of the Concorde |website=Un Jour De Plus a Paris |date=25 July 2019 |access-date=6 July 2020 |archive-date=7 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507010526/https://www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/en/paris-reportage/histoire-obelisque-louxor-paris |url-status=live }}</ref>

The obelisk once marked the entrance to the [[Luxor Temple]]. The [[Wali (administrative title)|wali]] of [[Ottoman Egypt|Egypt]], or hereditary governor, [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]], offered the 3,300-year-old [[Luxor]] Obelisk as a diplomatic gift to France in 1829. It arrived in Paris on 21 December 1833. Three years later, it was hoisted into place, on top of the pedestal which originally supported the statue of Louis XV, destroyed during the Revolution. The raising of the column was a major feat of engineering, depicted by illustrations on the base of the monument.  King [[Louis Philippe I|Louis Philippe]] dedicated the obelisk on 25 October 1836.<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 235</ref>

The obelisk, a yellow [[granite]] column, rises {{convert|23|m|ft|0}} high, including the base, and weighs over {{convert|250|t|ST|lk=on}}. Given the technical limitations of the day, transporting it was no easy feat – on the pedestal are drawn diagrams explaining the machinery that was used for the transportation.  The government of France added a gold-leafed pyramidal cap to the top of the obelisk in 1998, replacing the missing original, believed stolen in the 6th century BC.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-10-23|title=Paris obelisk finally gets its gold cap|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/paris-obelisk-finally-gets-its-gold-cap-1159117.html|access-date=2021-10-09|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203131304/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/paris-obelisk-finally-gets-its-gold-cap-1159117.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Fountains  ===
{{Main|Fontaines de la Concorde}}
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File:Place de la Concorde fountain dsc00774.jpg|The Fountain of River Commerce and Navigation, one of the two [[Fontaines de la Concorde]] (1840)
File:Fontaine des Fleuves, Paris May 2013.jpg|Base of the Fountain of River Commerce and Navigation   
File:Fontaine des Fleuves.jpg|The Fountain of River Commerce at night
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When he had completed the installation of the Luxor Obelisk, in 1836, Jacques-Ignace Hittorff, chief architect of the square, moved ahead with two new fountains to complement the obelisk.  Hittorff had been a student of the [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical designer]] [[Charles Percier]] at the [[École des Beaux-Arts]]. He had spent two years studying the architecture and fountains of Rome, particularly the [[Piazza Navona]] and [[Piazza San Pietro]], each of which had obelisks aligned with fountains.<ref>Barozzi, Jacques, "Paris de Fontaine en Fontaine" (2010), p. 66</ref>

Hittorff's fountains were each nine meters high, matching the height of the earlier columns and statues around the square representing great French cities. The Maritime Fountain was on the south, between the obelisk and Seine, and illustrated the seas bordering France, while the Fluvial Fountains or river fountain, on the north, between the Obelisk and the Rue Royale, illustrated the great rivers of France. It is located in the same place where the guillotine which executed Louis XVI had been placed.<ref>Barozzi, Jacques, "Paris de Fontaine en Fontaine" (2010), p. 66</ref> 
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Fontaine des Mers, September 24, 2011.jpg|Fountain of the Seas 
File:Fontaine des mers concorde detail.jpg|Base of the Fountain of the Seas
File:Paris Place de la Concorde Fontaine des Mers 09.jpg|Detail of the Fountain of the Seas 
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Both fountains had the same form: a stone basin; six figures of [[Triton (mythology)|tritons]] or [[naiad]]s holding fish spouting water; six seated allegorical figures, their feet on the prows of ships, supporting the pedestal, of the circular ''vasque''; four statues of different forms of genius in arts or crafts supporting the upper inverted upper vasque; whose water shot up and then cascaded down to the lower vasque and then the basin.<ref>Beatrice Lamoitier, ''L'essor des fontaines monumentales'', in ''Paris et ses fontaines'', pg. 173.</ref>

The north fountain was devoted to the Rivers, with allegorical figures representing the [[Rhone]] and the [[Rhine]], the arts of the harvesting of flowers and fruits, harvesting and grape growing; and the geniuses of river navigation, industry, and agriculture.

The south fountain, closer to the Seine, represented the seas, with figures representing the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; harvesting coral; harvesting fish; collecting shellfish; collecting pearls; and the geniuses of astronomy, navigation, and commerce.<ref>Beatrice Lamoitier, ''L'essor des fontaines monumentales'', in ''Paris et ses fontaines'', pg. 173.</ref>

===North side ===
{{Main|Hôtel de la Marine}}
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File:Hôtel de la Marine.jpg|South front of the [[Hôtel de la Marine]]
File:La grande Loggia de l'Hôtel de la Marine (Paris) (51352775059).jpg|The Grand Loggia of the Hôtel de la Marine, overlooking the Place de la Concorde  
File:Hôtels Crillon Cartier Plessis Bellière Coislin Paris 2.jpg|[[Hotel Crillon]], [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile|FIA]], and Automobile Club of France  
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The north side of the square, along the [[Rue de Rivoli]], is occupied by two palatial buildings, whose matching façades were designed by [[Ange-Jacques Gabriel]]. They are separated by the [[Rue Royale, Paris|Rue Royale]], which enters the square from the north and was also designed by Gabriel. He planned the harmonious façades of the buildings along Rue Royale, including the façade and interior of his own residence at Number eight.

The Neoclassical facades of the two major buildings on the Place de la Concorde are nearly identical. Their design was inspired by the [[Louvre Colonnade]], begun in 1667 by [[Louis Le Vau]], architect of [[Louis XIV]], [[Charles Le Brun]], and [[Charles Perrault]].<ref>"Connaissance des arts" special edition, "L'Hôtel de la Marine", October 2021, p. 8</ref> The front is decorated with sculpted medallions and guerlands, another feature borrowed from the Louvre east front. The long front of colonnades is balanced at either end  two sections with triangular frontons and Corinthian columns.

The building on the east, the [[Hôtel de la Marine]], was originally the royal Garde-Meuble, the depot for all the royal furnishings. [[Marie Antoinette]] also had a small apartment there. In 1792, during the Revolution, it became the headquarters of the French Navy. The Navy departed in 2015, and the building is now a national monument and museum. The ceremonial rooms of the Navy and the apartments of the original intendants before the Revolution have been restored. Since 2021 the building is also home to the [[Al Thani Collection]], a collection of ancient art from early civilisations brought together by Sheikh [[Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani]], first cousin of the Emir of [[Qatar]].<ref>"Some of a Sheik's Treasures Find a Home in Paris", "New York Times", November 18, 2021</ref><ref>"Connaissance des arts" special edition, "L'Hôtel de la Marine", October 2021, p. 8</ref>

The building on the west is divided into four separate buildings, which were originally occupied by members of the French Nobility.<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 236</ref>  
* Number 4 was first occupied by the [[Marie Anne de Coislin|Marquise de Coislin]], then, from 1805 to 1807, by the author and diplomat [[François-René de Chateaubriand]] (1805–1807). 
* Number 6 was first occupied by the Rouillé de l'Estaing, secretary of the King, and later by the Marquise de Plessis-Bellière, who left it in her will to [[Pope Leo XIII]]. The Pope in turn sold it to the [[Automobile Club of France]] in 1901, and they still occupy it. 
* Number 8, was  occupied by the royal architect [[Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux]]. It was eventually also sold and now houses the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]] (FIA) which sanctions [[Formula 1]] races.
* Number 10 was occupied in 1775 by the 6th Duke of Aumont beginning in 1775. He ceded it in 1788 to the Duke of Crillon, who emigrated from France during the French Revolution. The Duchess of Crillon returned and she and her descendants occupied it from 1820 until 1904. in 1909 it became a hotel for wealthy travellers, the [[Hôtel de Crillon]].<ref>Hillairet, Jacques, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 237</ref> In 2010 it was bought by a Saudi prince, [[Mutaib bin Abdullah Al Saud]].<ref>"Le Point" MAY 4,2017</ref>

=== East side: The Tuileries Garden, Jeu de Paume and Orangerie ===
{{Main|Tuileries Garden}}
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File:Tuileries Coysevox Renommée.jpg|Copy of "Fame Riding Pegasus" by [[Antoine Coysevox]] at the entrance to the Tuileries Garden
File:Place de la Concorde 1, Paris 25 May 2014.jpg|West gate from the square to the Tuileries Garden 
File:Jardin des Tuileries @ Paris (29078896192).jpg|Detail of Gateway to the Tuileries Garden 
File:Monets water lilies in the Musée de lOrangerie 03.jpg|Two of the eight [[Water Lilies (Monet series)|Water Lilies]] paintings by [[Claude Monet]] at the [[Musée de l'Orangerie]], overlooking the square
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On the east the Place de la Concorde is bordered by the two terraces of the [[Tuileries Garden]], the park of the [[Tuileries Palace]]. The palace was burned by the [[Paris Commune]] in 1871, and few vestiges remain. The highly-ornate gilded gateway to the garden was designed by [[Ange-Jacques Gabriel]], the architect to the square, and leads to the grand promenade of the garden which extends east as far as the Louvre. The gateway is flanked by two monumental equestrian sculptures by [[Antoine Coysevox]], "Fame Riding Pegasus" and "Mercury Riding Pegasus", made for the [[Château de Marly]] of Louis XIV, and installed at the Tuileries in 1719. They are copies; the originals are now in the [[Louvre]].<ref>Jacquin, Emmanuel, "Les Tuileries Du Louvre à la Concorde" (2008), p. 62</ref>

The early west gateway of Paris, the Port de la Conference, was located at the south end of the square, next to the Seine. It was built by [[Henry III of France]], and as the city grew was demolished in 1730. A revolving bridge originally gave entry to the gardens; it was located where the ornamental is today.

The terraces of the Garden overlooking the square are the home of two museums. At the north end, near the Rue de Rivoli, is the National Gallery of the [[Jeu de Paume]]. It was built under Emperor [[Napoleon III]] as the imperial tennis court in 1861 and was enlarged in 1878. During the Second World War it was used by the Germans as a depot for storing looted art. From 1947 until 1986 it displayed the [[Impressionism|Impressionist]] paintings of the Louvre. In 1997, it was entirely rebuilt, and now displays temporary exhibitions of contemporary art.<ref>Jacquin, Emmanuel, "Les Tuileries Du Louvre à la Concorde" (2008), p. 62</ref>

Closer to the Seine is the [[Orangerie Museum]], which was built in 1852 by architect Firmin Bourgeois as a winter shelter for the Tuileries citrus trees, also under Napoleon III. It was later converted into an art exhibition hall, and since 1927 it has been the home of one of the most famous groups of works of Impressionism, the eight paintings of the "[[Water Lilies (Monet series)|Water Lilies]]" series by [[Claude Monet]]. It also displays the Walter Guillaume collection of impressionist and paintings and works from the school of Paris.<ref>Jacquin, Emmanuel, "Les Tuileries Du Louvre à la Concorde" (2008), p. 62</ref>

The terrace overlooking the square also displays a number of important works of sculpture. These include, since 1998, four works by [[Auguste Rodin]]: ''[[The Kiss (Rodin sculpture)|The Kiss]]'' (1881–1888); a bronze copy of the marble original, cast in 1934; "[[Eve (Rodin)|Eve]]" (1881); The ''Grand Shadow'' (1881); and ''Meditation, with arms'' (1881–1905). It also displays more modern works, including ''Le Belle Costumé'' (1973) by [[Jean Dubuffet]], and ''Le Grand Commandement Blanc'' by [[Alain Kirili]] (1986). Two marble statues of lions are also displayed on the terrace, dating from the 18th century, and made by [[Giuseppe Franchi]].<ref>Jacquin, Emmanuel, "Les Tuileries Du Louvre à la Concorde" (2008), p. 62</ref>