Revolution Square in Paris. The famous Place de la Concorde in Paris
The area of consent is central square Paris, it is also one of the most famous and beautiful squares in Paris. It is located between the Tuileries Garden and the Champs Elysees. The square was built in the 17th century, and was originally named after King Louis XV. ( 11 photos)
1. In general, initially the square was surrounded by a moat and had an octagonal shape, and on each of the corners there were allegorical statues that symbolized the most important cities of France: Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Rouen, Brest, Lille and Strasbourg. It is worth noting that there is nothing so special in the architecture of the statues, but there is something interesting in them, inside these statues there are small apartments, which, of course, the authorities successfully rented out for a very impressive amount of 500 francs. These apartments are currently not available for rent.
2. On the square you can see statues with a marine theme, because the square was also built in order to glorify the great sea campaigns of the monarch. The building of the Ministry of the Navy is also located here. Also near the square is one of the most prestigious and famous hotels in all of France, the Crillon Hotel. The list of famous buildings does not end there, on the corner of the square and Boissy de Angla street there is the US Embassy, and a little earlier, namely from 1828 to 1842, the Russian Embassy was located in this building.
3. During its existence, the square was decorated with many statues, for example, initially there was a statue of the monarch in the center of the square, but it was soon replaced by a guillotine. Since then, the area has become known as Revolution Square. Such great personalities as Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette died under the guillotine. The Duke of Orleans Philippe-Egalite, Queen Marie Antoinette, as well as many revolutionaries such as Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Maximilian Robespierre, Saint-Just and others were also executed here.
4. But finally, in 1833, a huge obelisk was installed in the center of the square instead of a guillotine. And the obelisk was brought from Egypt and was presented to France by the ruler of Egypt, Mahmet Ali. This obelisk was delivered to France and then installed for two whole years, so the whole delivery process was reflected on the sides of the obelisk. The obelisk is quite impressive, its height is 23 meters, and it weighs 230 tons, of course, at that time it was a whole task to deliver such a colossus.
5. The obelisk is made of unusual pink marble and on all its sides there are Egyptian hieroglyphs in which Egyptian pharaohs Ramesses II and Ramesses III. At the very top of the monument, you can observe a gilded edge, but these are already improvements by modern architects, the gilding was applied in 1998.
6. Similar obelisks are also installed in New York and London, they are also called "Cleopatra's Needles".
9. In 1795, statues of “Horse Tamers” were installed on the square, but in 1984 the government was forced to remove them because they shook due to exhaust gases and vibration of passing cars, and exact copies of the statues were put in replacements.
Paid parking: Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde- one of the most beautiful in Paris - occupies a vast area between the Tuileries Garden and the Champs Elysees. The square was laid out in the middle of the 17th century according to the project of the architect Gabriel and at first bore the name of Louis XV. Like other “royal” squares, it was decorated with an equestrian statue of the monarch, but there was also something fundamentally new in its layout: it was not built up around the perimeter with houses, thanks to which wide vistas open up from any point in the square. It can be said that the area is spatially connected with the rest of the city.
From the Revolution of 1789 to the July Monarchy
At the very beginning of the French Revolution, the monument to the king was overthrown, and Louis XV Square was renamed the Revolution Square and decorated with the Statue of Liberty. On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI was beheaded at a site near the Champs Elysees. A few days later, a scaffold with a guillotine was installed near the terrace of the Tuileries Garden. Queen Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Corday (who killed Marat), the Duke of Orleans Philippe-Egalite, the king's favorite Madame du Barry, the revolutionaries Camille Desmoulins, Saint-Just, Danton, and many Girondins were executed here. A year later, victims of the Thermidorian coup led by Maximilian Robespierre were guillotined in the square. In total, 1119 people were executed on the square during the Revolution. In 1795, the square, which witnessed numerous executions, received a conciliatory name - Place de la Concorde.
During the reign of the "king of the French" Louis Philippe (1830-1848), an ancient Egyptian obelisk, two fountains, equestrian groups and marble statues depicting the cities of France appeared on the square. In 1835, the architect Gittorf completed the design of the square, following Gabriel's planning principles. So the Place de la Concorde acquired its present form.
Luxor obelisk
The obelisk decorating the square is a gift from Egyptian Viceroy Mehmet Ali. It was brought to Paris from the temple of Amun in Thebes. The age of the monument is approximately 3600 years. The obelisk is carved from pink granite. Its height is 23 meters, weight - 230 tons. On four sides it is covered with hieroglyphs glorifying the pharaohs Ramses II and Ramses III.
To transport the monumental "gift" from Egypt, a cargo ship "Luxor" was built. The sea voyage from Egypt to Toulon lasted two years and 25 days. For another three years, the obelisk lay on the banks of the Seine, while lifting devices designed by the engineer Apollinaire Leba were mounted on the square. On August 16, 1835, the obelisk was placed on a granite pedestal in the presence of the royal family and a crowd of 200,000 Parisians. By the way, to install Luxor obelisk it only took... three hours. Separate episodes of transportation and installation are depicted on the pedestal. In 1999, the top of the Luxor obelisk was crowned with a gold tip, the casting of which took 1.5 kg of pure gold.
Fountains of Giettorf
On both sides of the obelisk, Gittorf installed two fountains 9 meters high, imitating the fountains of St. Peter in Rome. The fountains are decorated with statues of Triton, Nereid and other mythical characters, as well as eighteen rostral columns. In the evenings, the fountains are illuminated. Recently completed work on the capital restoration of fountains.
Buildings on Place de la Concorde
It is not by chance that the square is decorated with fountains on the "marine theme" - the building of the Ministry of the Navy rises in its northern part. And on the other side of the Royal Street (rue Royale) is one of the most luxurious Parisian hotels - the famous Crillon Hotel (former Aumont Palace). In their architecture, both buildings have something in common with the palaces of the Louvre.
On February 6, 1778, an agreement on cooperation between France and the United States of North America was signed in the building of the Aumont Palace (France was the first country to recognize the independence of America).
Two more buildings overlook the Place de la Concorde, standing in the Tuileries Garden: on the corner of Rue Rivoli - the building of the Gallery of Modern Art, and next to the Seine embankment - the Orangerie Museum, which exhibits the late works of Claude Monet and some of his contemporaries.
At the corner of Place de la Concorde and rue Boissy-d'Anglas is the US Embassy building, built in 1930-1933. In the 19th century, a mansion stood on this site, where the Russian embassy was located in 1828-1842.
Statues of eight cities of France
Under King Louis Philippe, eight monumental statues symbolizing big cities France: Lyon and Marseille (sc. Petitot), Bordeaux and Nantes (sc. Gayonet), Rouen and Brest (sc. Cortot), Lille and Strasbourg (sc. Pradier). In the years 1870-1914, when Alsace and Lorraine were occupied by the Germans, the statue of Strasbourg, covered with black crepe, became a place of patriotic pilgrimage for the French.
Cony Marley
Since 1795, at the entrance to the Champs-Élysées, there have been two sculptural groups, known as the "Horses of Marley" (sk. Kustu). In 1984, the original sculptures, badly damaged by exhaust gases, were transported to the Louvre, and immaculately executed copies were installed in their place.
In the early 50s of the twentieth century, Marley's horses were "sold" by one crook to a naive American with a tight wallet. To the great surprise of the latter, the French authorities did not recognize the deal as legal, they answered the American’s attempt to take away the horses with a categorical refusal and advised him to hang the bill of sale in his bedroom.
Russian trace
The famous Parisian restaurant "Maxim" s, opened in 1891 by Maxim Gaillard in the house owned by the minister of Louis XVIII, the governor of Odessa, the Duke of Richelieu, is located in the house number 3 on Korolskaya Street. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Prince of Wales, Count Orlov, Count Galitsyn, Marquise de Dion and others were frequent visitors to the restaurant.
In February 1923, Sergei Yesenin and his wife Isadora Duncan stayed at the Crillon Hotel, but because of his scandalous behavior, Yesenin was expelled not only from the hotel, but also from France.
 |
Nearest hotels: | 400 meters | Hotel Cambon | from | 261 € * | |
| at 430 meters | Residence La Concorde | from | 155 € * | |||
| 1 km | Hotel Prince Albert Louvre | from | 89 € * | |||
| * minimum room rate for two in low season | ||||||
| Nearest metro: | at 190 meters | Concorde (Concorde) | lines | |||
After the "sun-like" Louis XIV in the west, Paris ended with the Tuileries Garden, then meadows, hills with mills began, and the Champs Elysees were still really fields, in general, a rural idyll.
The next monarch, Louis XV, took a new step in the development of Paris to the west, deciding to lay a large square behind the Tuileries, and entrusted its arrangement to Ange Jacques Gabriel, the architect of the Military School in Paris and much more in Versailles. Louis XV, throughout his 59 years of reign, went with the flow, all the time trying to take on some business, but leaving halfway.
Either he wanted to rule alone, and as a result, ministers and favorites ruled, then he decided to fight, and the commanders appointed by his mistresses fought, while the king, having arrived at the headquarters in Metz, fell ill and went back. It was in commemoration of his happy recovery that it was decided to build a square and name it ... well, of course, the name of the reigning monarch.
Designed by Gabriel in 1755, Place Louis XV was an octagon with an equestrian statue of the king in the center. To ensure drainage, the project provided for a moat that surrounded this octogon around the perimeter. In 1770, during the fireworks on the occasion of the marriage of Dauphin (the future Louis XVI) and Marie Antoinette, a fire broke out - hundreds of people died and were maimed in the ensuing crush in these ditches. However, this is not the saddest page in the history of the square ...
The bridges across the moat, which no longer exists, were adorned with sculptures still standing, symbolizing the main French cities: Brest, Bordeaux, Rouen, Lyon, Lille, Nantes, Marseille and Strasbourg. Patriots like to gather next to the latter when Alsace, once again, is annexed to Germany.
The southern side of the square overlooked the Seine, and on the northern side, the architect built 2 symmetrical palaces with classical colonnades. The palace on the right houses the Ministry of the French Navy, and its twin on the left houses one of the oldest and luxury hotels Paris: Hôtel de Crillon Here it is customary to receive heads of state (as commemorative plaques remind) and owners of "old money" from all over the world.
It was within these walls that France was the first in the world to recognize the independence of the United States in 1778. Both frivolous Aston Martin and Ferrari, as well as decent Bentley and Rolls-Royce, are parked in front of the entrance, the S-class looks something tasteless, although prices are average by Moscow standards: from €500 per room.
For many centuries the palace belonged to the French, but in the 21st century it was sold to the Americans, who immediately resold it to whom? .. of course, Saudi princes :) - now this is the norm.
However, let us return to Paris in the second half of the 18th century. Starting from the middle of the reign of Louis XIV, France has been sliding down over the course of the century: wars, famine, poverty, and at the same time, Versailles of the Sun King powdered and sparkling with fireworks, endless Pompadour and Dubarry of Louis XV, devastating the treasury, and finally a good guy Louis XVI, who, after centuries of degradation of the monarchy, seems to simply not understand that the state needs to be governed, and if the monarch prefers hunting, then The mob begins to rule, the Bastilles fall, burying the monarchy and many thousands more people under them. Louis XV Square was renamed the Revolution Square, the statue of the king was melted down, and in front of an empty pedestal they began to cut off the heads of the crowd for fun, first revolutionaries to aristocrats, and then some revolutionaries to others. Somehow, during the time of terror, the drovers could not overtake the buffaloes across the square (yes, Paris was not always as urbanized as it is now), because the smell of blood in the air was so strong that the animals were numb with horror, but people are the kings of nature, stronger than animals and can enjoy horrors.
Among those guillotined on the square: Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette, his grandfather's mistress Madame Dubarry, Charlotte Corday, Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins ... Then the guillotine will be transferred to Place Nation, but will be returned on July 28, 1794 for Robespierre, Saint-Just and their friends.
Before the restoration, the square was adorned with a terracotta statue of Liberty, which the contra called Liberty from Mud, after, during the reign of Louis XVIII, for some time it bore the name of the murdered Louis XVI (you can still see a tablet with the old name on the Hotel de Crillon) and even a stone was laid at the base of the monument to the martyr.
These throwings were stopped by the citizen-king Louis-Philippe, who came to power in 1830 - he gave the square the name Place de la Concorde (i.e. Concord) and installed in the middle of the square, a three-thousand-year-old Egyptian obelisk, devoid of political overtones, ...
... previously decorating the entrance to the Luxor Temple, and donated to France by Muhammad Ali, Viceroy of Egypt. In 1836, to the applause of a crowd of 200,000, the 250-ton obelisk took its place. In fact, the Egyptians gave 2 obelisks at once, but France almost overstrained with one, so they didn’t even take the second one, it still stands, depriving the entrance to the temple in Thebes of symmetry. Back the second obelisk gave Egypt Mitterrand. In addition, Louis-Philippe commissioned Jacques Hittorf to build 2 fountains on either side of the obelisk. Hittorf - the author of the projects of the North Station and the city halls and the V districts, here simply copied the idea of \u200b\u200bthe location of the fountains from the square in front of Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican, performing them in the clumsy Beaux-Arts style.
The modern Place de la Concorde in the morning is an amazing example of urban art. It stands at the intersection of two axes: the so-called main historical axis of Paris (Arc Carousel - Champs Elysees - Arc de Triomphe - La Defense) and an ideal example of classicism - the axis: National Assembly - Concorde - Ruy Royal - Madeleine Church, while not spoiling these axes, only highlighting the advantages. However, during the day and in the evening, the square is a car hell: 2 concentric circular movements simply kill everything beautiful :(
The last but not least touch is the connection between the spirit of the place, history and politics. The Parisian right bank has 2 old poles - both former suburbs: Faubourg Saint-Antoine in the east and Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the west. Historically, Faubourg Saint-Antoine was an eternally restless proletarian area - the womb of revolutions, and Faubourg Saint-Honoré - a quiet haven for royalists and bourgeois. Centuries have passed, much has changed, however, honoring traditions, the socialists celebrate the elections they won (the last was Mitterrand) on the Place de la Bastille near the Saint-Antoine faubourg, and the right (Chirac, Sarkozy) - here, on the Place de la Concorde.
Place de la Concorde (Place de la Concorde) is one of the largest and most beautiful squares in Paris. It was arranged in the middle of the 18th century specifically for the installation of an equestrian statue of King Louis XV, after whom the square began to be called.
But at the end of the 18th century, revolutionary upheavals covered France, which could not but affect the urban toponymy. Louis XV Square was immediately renamed the Revolution Square, while not forgetting to remove the statue of the monarch. A guillotine was installed on the same square, under the blade of which not only royal persons died - King Louis XVI with his wife Marie Antoinette, but also more than a thousand people.
Since the monarchy did not immediately surrender and still returned, the square changed its name more than once. And the current name was finally assigned to it in 1830.
This happened during the reign of King Louis Philippe, who ordered to decorate the square with fountains, columns, statues, in order to somehow reduce the reminders of the tragic events that took place here during the revolution. Which is what was done.
The final chord of beautification of the Place de la Concorde was the installation in 1836 on the empty place after the demolition of the statue of Louis XVI in the center of the square of the ancient Egyptian obelisk from the temple in Luxor, presented to Louis Philippe by the king of Egypt.
Here it is, everything is here, everything is in its place. And the obelisk, and fountains, and columns, and statues ...
At one time, Mayakovsky liked the square so much that he dedicated the following lines to it:
Square
prettier
and thousands
lapdog ladies.
This area
would justify
every city.
If I were
Vendôme column,
i would marry
on the Place de la Concorde.
Why not a declaration of love? :-))
The area offers great views…
... to the Assembly of Nations, located in the Palais des Bourbons
Just opposite the Assembly are the twin mansions. The one on the left currently houses the Crillon Hotel, and the one on the right is the Naval Ministry. Between the mansions you can see the Madeleine church in the distance.
Behind the Luxor obelisk, you can barely see the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe.
I suggest you do virtual walk through the most outstanding squares of Paris, learn about their extraordinary history, admire their beauties. Paris is a unique city, if you have not had time to make sure of this, this topic is for you!
Place de la Concorde in Paris
Let's start with Place de la Concorde. Place de la Concorde - one of the most beautiful in Paris - occupies a vast area between the Tuileries Garden and the Champs Elysees. The square was laid out in the middle of the 17th century according to the project of the architect Gabriel and at first bore the name of Louis XV. Like other “royal” squares, it was decorated with an equestrian statue of the monarch, but there was also something fundamentally new in its layout: it was not built up around the perimeter with houses, thanks to which wide vistas open up from any point in the square. It can be said that the square is spatially connected with the rest of the city.
During the reign of the "king of the French" Louis Philippe (1830-1848), an ancient Egyptian obelisk, two fountains, equestrian groups and marble statues depicting the cities of France appeared on the square. In 1835, the architect Gittorf completed the design of the square, following Gabriel's planning principles. So the Place de la Concorde acquired its present form. The obelisk decorating Place de la Concorde was a gift from Egyptian viceroy Mehmet Ali. It was brought to Paris from the temple of Amun in Thebes. The age of the monument is approximately 3600 years. The obelisk is carved from pink granite. Its height is 23 meters, weight is 230 tons. On four sides it is covered with hieroglyphs glorifying the pharaohs Ramses II and Ramses III. To transport the monumental "gift" from Egypt, a cargo ship "Luxor" was built. The sea voyage from Egypt to Toulon lasted two years and 25 days. For another three years, the obelisk lay on the banks of the Seine, while lifting devices developed by the engineer Apollinaire Leba were mounted on the square. On August 16, 1835, the obelisk was placed on a granite pedestal in the presence of the royal family and a crowd of 200,000 Parisians. By the way, the installation of the Luxor obelisk took only ... three hours. Separate episodes of transportation and installation are depicted on the pedestal. In 1999, the top of the Luxor obelisk was crowned with a gold tip, the casting of which took 1.5 kg of pure gold. Similar obelisks ("Cleopatra's needles") were also erected in London and New York. 
On both sides of the obelisk, Gittorf installed two fountains 9 meters high, imitating the fountains of St. Peter in Rome. The fountains of Gittorf are decorated with statues of Triton, Nereid and other mythical characters, as well as eighteen rostral columns. In the evenings, the fountains are illuminated. Recently completed the major restoration of the fountains on the Place de la Concorde 
Under King Louis-Philippe, eight monumental statues were erected on the Place de la Concorde, symbolizing the major cities of France: Lyon and Marseille (sk. Petito), Bordeaux and Nantes (sk. Gayonet), Rouen and Brest (sk. Cortot), Lille and Strasbourg (sk. Pradier). In the years 1870-1914, when Alsace and Lorraine were occupied by the Germans, the statue of Strasbourg, covered with black crepe, became a place of patriotic pilgrimage for the French. Square Consent is decorated with fountains on the "marine theme" not by chance - in its northern part rises the building of the Ministry of the Navy. And on the other side of the Royal street (rue Royale) is one of the most luxurious Parisian hotels - the famous Hotel Crillon (former Aumont Palace). In their architecture, both buildings have something in common with the palaces of the Louvre. In February 1923, Sergei Yesenin and his wife Isadora Duncan stayed at the Crillon Hotel on Place de la Concorde, but because of his scandalous behavior, Yesenin was expelled not only from the hotel, but also from France.
Place des Vosges ( Royal Square Paris)
Place Royale became the first square in Paris, where every detail was worked out by the architects. It is a rectangle, closed on all sides by identical houses. All 36 houses are made according to one project. Only two of them differ: the Pavilions of the King and the Queen located opposite each other. Another feature of this ensemble is the color of the buildings - it is completely unusual for Paris: red and white. Each of the houses is lined with decorative brick and white stone. Along the entire perimeter of the square, the houses are surrounded by an arcade, and on the first floors there are art galleries, antique and bookstores, tea salons. Place des Vosges immediately fell in love with the Parisians, and the wealthiest just settled here. Whole volumes could be written about each of the houses. In 1626, Madame de Sevigne was born in house number one, the whole history of the Marais quarter is connected with her name, it is no coincidence that she is called the "uncrowned queen" of this quarter. Corneille lived next door. Cardinal Richelieu, captivated by the beauty and, for that time, the unusualness of the square, hurried to buy himself a mansion at number 21, in which, however, he never settled.
The square was called Royal from the time of the musketeers until 1792, then for one year it became the Square of the Federates, then for another year - the Square of Unity (the Jacobin name), under the Directory - again the Federates, and on March 7, 1800, Napoleon renamed it Vosges, in honor of the department that was the first to pay military tax to the treasury (!!!). In 1814, after the restoration of the Bourbons, the square again became the Royal, in 1831 again the Vosges, in 1852 the Royal, and in 1870 again the Vosges, which still remains. The ensemble of the square was completed only in 1612, two years after the death of the Jolly King, on the day of the marriage of his son Louis XIII (the second king of the Bourbon dynasty) with Anna of Austria. However, there were two weddings: Louis with Anna and his sister, Elizabeth of France, who married the heir to the Spanish throne (the future Philip IV). Among the guests of honor were the entire Guise family (once the "inspirers and organizers" of Bartholomew's Night), the "fictitious widow" of Henry IV, Queen Margot, the Duke of Nevers and, of course, Cardinal Richelieu at the head of the still small royal court: the late Henry IV did not keep many ministers and courtiers 
Place des Vosges is formed by 36 houses, almost identical. All of them are brick, and the windows and corners are lined with light sandstone. In the center of the north and south sides, opposite each other, are two houses slightly higher than the others, although they have the same number of floors: the King's Pavilion and the Queen's Pavilion. They were the first to be built in 1605 and served as an indispensable model for all other houses in this Parisian square. Heavy arches (each house stands on four arches) are low and wide - the width is almost equal to the height. Under the arcade, you can walk around the entire square in a square - even both lanes leading north and south begin under arches, without violating the solid line of houses - only a narrow street, called “Free Citizens Street” in the western part, and “Donkey Step Street” in the short eastern part, breaks a closed square 
The Place Royale was known and went down in history not only as the center of the social life of Paris, but also as a place for duels. It was here that a terrible battle took place between the minions of King Henry III and the nobles who served the Duke of Anjou, vividly described in the novel by Alexandre Dumas "Countess de Montsoro". Richelieu, disturbed by senseless killings, issued a decree banning duels. To enhance its effect, by order of the cardinal on area installed an equestrian statue of Louis XIII: a duel in the presence of the king was doubly punished! But nothing had an effect on the nobles, even the demonstrative execution of duelists carried out on the Place de Greve in 1627.
Place Vendôme in Paris
Opinions on who Paris should be grateful for the appearance of this masterpiece of architecture differ sharply. Some are convinced that without Louis XIV and his desire to compete with his grandfather Henry IV in decorating Paris, there would have been no Place Vendôme. Others argue that only the genius of Jules-Hardouin Mansart could have created such a perfect ensemble. In fact, even without one of these faces, the Place Vendôme would not have been possible. The laurels of Henry IV as an urbanist king did not give Louis the Great peace of mind. The Sun King spared neither effort nor money to make his capital even more beautiful. It had to correspond to the greatness of the monarch himself. He built, built, built, in his Great Age the ensemble of the Invalides, the eastern facade of the Louvre, better known as the Perrault colonnade, the royal bridge, the Grands Boulevards, almost all the monuments that create modern glory French capital 
On the odd side of the Place Vendôme is the famous hotel of Paris - the Ritz, named after its creator Cesar Ritz. The appearance of this hotel turned all the concepts of such establishments upside down. Mr. Ritz tried to give his hotel all the sophistication that can only be found in the homes of princes of the blood. Everything here was thought out to the smallest detail, even the lighting was arranged so that a fresh blush always played on the faces of the ladies. The owner's care for his guests was appreciated by many, and among the hotel guests there are the biggest names: Marcel Proust, Coco Chanel, who lived in hotel apartments for more than thirty years, Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway ...
The palaces on the even side boast the same rich history. One of the palaces belonged to George Sand's grandfather, and lived in the neighboring palace last days and the writer's beloved Polish composer Chopin died. A few years earlier, in the same house, Napoleon III met his future wife Eugenia. Palace number eight was owned by the brother of Madame de Pompadour. Place Vendôme has not lost its sophistication even today. Now her name is associated with the main jewelry houses of the world: Chomet, Boucheron, Van Cliff and Arpels, Mauboussin ... From the shine in the windows of diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls and gold of all shades and sizes, it blinds the eyes 
The Austerlitz Column of the Place Vendôme is a remarkable structure. The Parisian column was made on the principle of the famous Trajan's pillar in Rome, but exceeded the original by 14 meters. In total, it is 44 meters tall, not counting the statue of Napoleon crowning it. The trunk of the column is made of bronze. The material for it was taken from the remelting of Austrian and Russian cannons, trophies of the battle of Austerlitz. In total, 1250 guns went into this business. 76 bas-reliefs are fixed on the trunk, depicting individual moments of the military campaign of the Napoleonic army in 1805. A column is installed on a marble pedestal of a former royal statue. The pedestal itself is richly decorated with bronze images of weapons and other military attributes of the countries defeated by Napoleon. However, there is no direct indication of this in the form of inscriptions. They say that Napoleon himself forbade them. He wanted at that time an alliance with Russia 
Place de la Bastille in Paris
One of the most famous squares in Paris. Outstanding architects did not work on the creation of this Parisian square; it is neither beautiful nor elegant. But it is she who is for the French a symbol of freedom and a monument to all revolutions. It became a square only in the 18th century, and before that eastern border Paris was guarded by a fortress built under King Charles V and called by the Parisians "Bastille".
At the end of the XIV century, France experienced the most terrible times: the plague epidemic claimed more than 22 thousand lives; despite a temporary lull, the war with England was not over; endless conspiracies were brewing at the royal court. After the massacre carried out in the palace on the island of the City by Etienne Marcel, Charles V left the island and settled on the right bank of the Seine, in the palace of Saint-Paul. The new dwelling also did not provide sufficient security, in connection with which the king ordered the construction of a fortress for him in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, on the eastern outskirts of the city. She was to crown the fortifications that surrounded the entire right bank. Later, in their place, Louis XIV would erect the Grand Boulevards, which in the future would set the tone for life throughout Europe. The fortress with eight towers, surrounded on all sides by deep ditches, was built to protect the king from enemy attacks (most likely, its main task was to protect the king of France from the Parisians), but it never failed to fulfill its direct purpose. During civil wars she was taken by storm seven times, and all seven times she surrendered without the slightest fight. Cardinal Richelieu set up a prison in the former fortress, all the prisoners of which were distinguished by high birth: Marshal de Bassompierre, Cardinal de Rogan, Marquis de Sade, Comte de Mirabeau 
In 1789, there were only seven prisoners in the Bastille, two of them insane. At the end of June 1789 Paris unrest gripped. On July 14, nothing could stop the raging Parisians. The day before, Desmoulins urged them to arm themselves, and the whole excited crowd, which included petty nobles, shopkeepers, and even one academician of belles-lettres, headed for the Bastille. Until now, not a single historian of the French Revolution has answered the question of why the crowd moved to storm the Bastille, and not any other building belonging to the court of the king. The fortress, as usual, surrendered without a fight, but the people demanded sacrifices. Marquis de Launay, commandant of the prison, was killed by the mob, two of his assistants were hanged. The crowd then moved on, taking over several ministries and the post office along the way. Since 1880, July 14, in memory of the storming of the unresisting Bastille, has become official holiday countries, and on the site of the former fortress, which they decided not to build up, mass festivities have been held since then. The following generations of the Bastille are reminded of the contours of the prison, laid out on the pavement.
Napoleon, during the redevelopment of Paris, decided in 1808 to build a huge fountain in the form of an elephant (Elephant de la Bastille) on Place de la Bastille, perpetuating his victories in Egypt. The elephant was supposed to be made from bronze cannons captured from the Spaniards and be 24 m high. The ladder to the top must have been arranged in one of the elephant's legs. The architect Jean Antoine Alavuan set to work, but, as a result, only a life-size plaster model was placed on the finished pedestal in 1813. He went down in history thanks to Victor Hugo, who decided to settle one of the heroes of the novel Les Miserables, Gavroche, in the ruins of the failed fountain. During the demolition of the monument in 1846, it turned out that thousands of rats had chosen the pedestal and the monument. 
In 1833, Louis-Philippe I decided to erect the July Column in the square in memory of " three days Glory" from July 27 to July 29, 1830 during the July Revolution. Its opening took place in 1840. The July Column (fr. Colonne de Juillet) is a monument on Bastille Square in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, at first popularly called the Jewish column. The column has nothing to do with the revolutionary events of 1789 - the storming of the Bastille, despite popular belief 
The final touch in the glorification of popular ideas was the construction by President Francois Mitterrand of a new opera house on Place de la Bastille. The socialist president was sure that the art of opera should be accessible to the masses, and a theater with a gigantic number of seats was built on his order. Opera Bastille is more like a stadium, but you can buy a ticket for only a hundred francs and not bother choosing a costume: both jeans and a pullover will do for the Bastille opera 
Square of the Star in Paris
Place des Stars is a square in the western part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Since 1970, after the death of Charles de Gaulle, it was officially renamed Place Charles de Gaulle. The appearance of this area was not included in the town planning plans. The construction of the palace and the Tuileries Garden required that the royal residence be adequately framed. By order of Louis VIII, among the rather swampy places of the Etoile customs outpost, they stretched three alleys with elms. Then, the well-known landscape architect in Paris, Andre Lenotre, laid an avenue (now the Champs Elysees) up to the very hill of Chaillot, which was completed by a round “square” from which five roads diverged, thanks to which it received the name of the Star. And yet, architecturally, it was more of a fork in the road than a square. 
Place de la Zvezda acquired its final appearance in 1854, when, by order of Napoleon III, several nearest suburbs were annexed to Paris. According to the plan of Baron Haussmann, prefect of Paris, seven more streets were added to the five streets that converged here. According to its architectural plan, 12 rays-avenues scatter from Star Square. The most pompous - Avenue Foch - is 120 meters wide. All avenues leading to the Arc de Triomphe are named after the marshals of France (Carnot, Marceau, Auch) or in honor of the victories won by French weapons (Avenue Friedland, Wagram, Jena). The most famous of them is the Champs-Elysées, which connects the Place des Stars and the Place de la Concorde.
If you ask any Parisian what is the worst place in the capital for a motorist, then everyone will answer without hesitation: the Place de la Zvezda. There is nothing surprising, because twelve avenues go out onto a round square with a diameter of 120 meters, and there is not a single traffic light or even a traffic controller on the square: everyone drives as he wants. She wasn't always so lively. On the contrary, its hallmark was peace and tranquility. After all, for decades the area served as a crossroads of five suburban roads. The appearance of this area was not included in the town planning plans. The construction of the palace and the Tuileries Garden required that the royal residence be adequately framed. The work was entrusted to André Le Nôtre, the most important garden architect of the seventeenth century. He built a wide promenade up to the hill of Chaillot, called the avenue of the Royal Lattice (it was renamed in 1694, and now there is no person who would not be familiar with the name of the avenue: the Champs-Elysées). It was completed by a round square, from which five roads diverged, thanks to which it received the name of the Star. 
From an architectural point of view, it could not even be called a square - rather a fork. It remained so until 1806. Napoleon I, who became emperor, saw Paris as the Third Rome. By order of Napoleon, fountains, arches, columns, temples suddenly appeared in Paris like mushrooms after rain. On the Square of the Star - in honor of the victories won by the French army - the Arc de Triomphe was erected. Near the Louvre, one was already being built, but the dictator considered that it was not grand enough and could not reflect the whole greatness of the empire created by the little corporal
The Zvezda Square acquired its final form in 1854. Baron Ossmann laid several more wide avenues from the square. There are now twelve in total. The most pompous - Avenue Foch - has a width of 120 meters. All avenues leading to the Arc de Triomphe are named after the marshals of France (Carnot, Marceau, Auch) or in honor of victories won by French arms (Friedland, Wagram, Jena). In the center of the round square rises the fifty-meter arch itself, richly decorated with high reliefs, the most famous of which is called the Marseillaise. The entire inner side of the arch is dotted with inscriptions, the names of all the generals and marshals who fought for France are engraved here. There are so many of these names that the engravers often made mistakes in spelling, sometimes by mistake they entered there not at all the heroes of France, but, on the contrary, its opponents. Three rows of trees are planted along the radius of the square, and behind them are exactly the same mansions built by the architects Hittorf and Roo de Fleury in 1868 in the Empire style with an admixture of baroque. They are called the Marshals' mansions, although no marshal has ever lived or even stayed in any of them. All the entrances of the mansions are hidden "at the back of the square" to emphasize the solemnity of the facades overlooking the Zvezda Square. Since 1923, under the arch, over the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an eternal flame has been burning. Every year on July 14, the President of France hosts a military parade in Place Charles de Gaulle. 
Place Dauphine in Paris
Place Dauphine is called a pearl architectural ensemble Paris. And they call her the Parisian Cinderella. The most beautiful, according to Andre Maurois, the square of the city is undeservedly forgotten. From an architectural point of view, it is on a par with such masterpieces as Place Vendôme, Place de la Concorde, Place des Vosges... However, unlike them, it has not retained its original appearance and architectural unity of style. Over the four hundred years of its existence, it has been rebuilt more than once, and to this day, out of the forty-four houses that surrounded it, only two have survived in their original form. 
Immediately after its construction, Place Dauphine quickly became one of the busiest places in Paris. She was chosen by comedians, charlatans, tooth pullers, card players, girls of easy virtue ... Among this motley audience there were also such characters who went down in history. Main actors this non-stop performance were Italian comedians. When they left the square for a while and went on a tour of France, the regular audience mourned their departure, especially the students. Gilles Barry, who settled on the square in 1609, in addition to his main occupation - to amuse the public - also traded drugs. However, all Italian comedians did this in general. In 1618, he had serious competitors, who were adored by all of Paris, also the Italians Mondor and Tabarin. The most famous toothbrusher of the Place Dauphine was Fat Thomas. In order to show his loyalty to the crown, in 1728, on the occasion of the happy recovery of Louis XV from smallpox, he pulled out the teeth of everyone for free. In the same way, he celebrated the birth of the heir to the throne.
In 1660, the main event that the Place Dauphine survived took place. Paris celebrated the arrival of the young wife of Louis XIV, Marie-Therese of Austria. To meet the royal couple, the elders of the city decided to put four triumphal arches on the route and at the last moment added one more - on Dauphine Square. To create this arch and the entire ensemble surrounding it, the artist Lebrun was invited. According to his sketches, a temporary arch was created, and the throne stood on the square, from where a view of the Louvre and all of Paris opened. Each window overlooking the square was peculiarly decorated with flowers, and flower garlands crossed the entire square. For almost the entire eighteenth century, the Place Dauphine was the center of artistic life in France. Louis XIV from 1663 held art salons, where members of the academy, and only they, presented their work. The Salon ceased to exist in 1704. The artists no longer had a place to appear in front of the viewer. And then young, unknown debutants began to exhibit their works for everyone on a crowded square. For this they chose the day of the Savior. Spontaneous exhibitions at first attracted only onlookers, but from year to year they became more and more popular, and from 1722 specialists became interested in exhibitions. Academics presented their works here to the audience, and a major art magazine placed reports on exhibitions on its pages. In our time, life is no longer seething in the Place Dauphine. On the contrary, now this place attracts Parisians with provincial peace and quiet, cozy small restaurants.
Victory Square in Paris
Victory Square (Place des Victoires) is a small Parisian square northeast of the Palais Royal. The initiator of its creation was Marshal de La Feuillade, who, after the conclusion of the Treaty of Nimvegen, bought and demolished the surrounding houses, instructing the architect Hardouin-Mansart to break and build up a square with an equestrian statue of King Louis XIV in the middle. The move was intended to commemorate French victories during the Dutch War. The current statue is already the third one on this site. 
squares of paris are considered to be the most beautiful in the world. There are more than 14 large squares in Paris, but in this article we have focused only on the most famous of them. Hope you enjoyed!