Paris

Place du Concorde.

The largest public square in Paris, it was first Place Louis XV; then Place de la Révolution, where the guillotine was set up for many of the Terror's executions, including those of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Set between the Champs Elysees and the Tuileries Gardens, it now fronts a fashionable hotel and the Naval Ministry. The Obelisk of Luxor was a gift from Egypt in 1829, its hieroglyphics portraying the reigns of Ramses II and Ramses III.