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| The Place de la Concorde was designed as a moat-skirted octagon in 1755 by Jacques Ange Gabriel. He had won competition set by the échevins of Paris for a king-flattering Place Louis XV. The river end was left open, and on the inland side; two matching buildings were planned. The ground floor was arcaded and the facade was nimbly adapted from the Louvre colonnade, all with a refinement typical of the era. Although Gabriel built eight giant pedestals around the periphery of his place, they remained untenanted until Louis-Philippe gave them statues representing provincial capitals going clockwise from the Navy Ministry (Ministere de la Marine): Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest and Rouen. Louis-Philippe also had the Luxor Obelisk, a gift from Egypt, installed in the centre and flanked by two fountains. Later, the surrounding moat was filled in, and the Place de la Concorde took on its present geography. | | |||||
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