No matter where you travel, you’ll end up discovering something that steals your heart. Maybe it was totally unexpected. It could be a museum or a restaurant or maybe even a gem little location that no one knows about. It might even be a tourist trap or something franchised, solely because of the emotional association you have with it. In Paris, there’s an endless number of places that someone could fall in love with. For me, it’s not a museum or a place to eat — it’s Place de la Concorde.

Confession time – the first time I went to Paris, I wasn’t a huge fan. The tour I was on took me to the main tourist locations (Eiffel Tower, Louvre). We didn’t really do much other than see the big events. I had a single day on my own after that and my entire opinion about the city changed with one single location.

That would be the Place de la Concorde. At first glance, it might seem like a simple plaza in the middle of Paris. While there’s gorgeous fountains and sculptures and the Luxor Obelisk, it’s not like the paintings that hang in the d’Orsay or the Louvre. It doesn’t have the same architectural marvels as Pompidou or the Solferino bridge. And yet, there’s something about the centrality of the plaza, the dynamic motion of the fountains, and the energy that makes me love this area the most of Paris.

The Seine is right there. Behind you is the Tuileries and within sight is the Louvre. Look across the plaza and there’s the Champs Elysees, and in the distance is the Eiffel Tower. There’s the Palais Bourbon (National Assembly) across the bridge. If you look down the street the opposite direction, you can see La Madeleine.

But before you wander off, stay a while and experience the history, the art, and the kinetic motion of the bustling plaza.

It’s true, you won’t spend a full day in the plaza. However, it’s worth at least a good hour of hanging out and people watching. If nothing else, you can admire the various fountains, the Luxor Obelisk, as well as the statues that represent the various regions in France (highlighted in yellow in the image above).

When did they build the Place de la Concorde?

Construction of Place de la Concorde took place through the mid-17th century first having life breathed into it by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. He created it as a grand moat-surrounded plaza. It wasn’t called the Place de la Concorde just yet. The square continued to expand — to include two buildings, which served multiple purposes throughout their lives in those days (including nobility housing and storage).

One of its largest claims to fame has nothing to do with the architecture or its original use (intended to house a statue of King Louis XV). It would, of course, see the presence of many more royals and other notable figures, given that the square was one of the key locations during the French Revolution. After all, it’s extremely central and the people could access it readily. What better place to set up the guillotine? In fact, the majority of beheadings that took place during the Revolution were done there. That number stands at nearly 50%. The remainder were done at the Bastille and at Place de la Nation.

The version of the Place de la Concorde that exited the French Revolution differed greatly from today. For one, there was no obelisk, which came sixty years later:

When the viceroy of Egypt, Muḥammad ʿAlī, offered France an obelisk from the reign of Ramses II as a gift in 1831, the German-born designer Jakob Ignaz Hittorff was asked to plan a square with two fountains to frame the ancient monument. The design was modeled after the plaza in front of St. Peter’s in Rome, which Hittorff had seen during his travels to Italy in the early 1820s. Construction began in 1836 and the fountains and their plumbing systems were complete in 1840.

Place de la Concorde

The monuments and the fountains were also a later addition.

Once you’re through taking in the sights, people-watching, and admiring the fountains, you can head in any direction, and continue exploring Paris. I tend to head to the Tuileries and the Louvre, since they’re quickly accessible. You can begin with a trip to the Orangerie within a few steps, but Paris is your oyster from this location — one of the reasons I love it most!

Want to learn more? Check out some of the great articles below about Place de la Concorde and maybe you’ll walk away from Paris loving it just as much as I do:

• Paris Perfect: Place de la Concorde
• Gabriel Ange-Jacques biography & Wikipedia page
• Place de la Concorde
• Britannica Place de la Concorde
• The 7 Most Beautiful Fountains in Paris

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