Editing Place de la Concorde (section)

=== 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  
</gallery>
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>