Paris Top 30 Attractions - One-Two-Go Paris: The Quick Guide to Paris 2015 - page 56

Top 30 Attraction 6 Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde, located at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées, is the largest
square in Paris. This massive 86,400 square-meter square was originally called Place Louis
XV and was built around a statue of the French King, Louis XV.
The statue of the king and the square's name didn't last for long as they were swept away by
the French Revolution, together with many buildings, sites and statues that had connections
to the monarchy.
Under its new name, Place de la Révolution, the square became famous as the place where
thousands of people were executed by the guillotine in the first years of the Revolution,
from 1792 to 1793. Among the first executed were Louis XV's grandson, Louis XVI, and
his wife, Marie Antoinette, soon followed by much of the French nobility, often in front of
cheering crowds.
The guillotine was soon removed, however, and the name of the square was changed under
Napoleonic rule to its current name, Place de la Concorde, as a sign that the horrible past
had been put behind.