The Cleopatra’s Needle

 

Cleopatra's Needle at Place de La Concord (Price)

Our next stop in our Tour of France's history is Cleopatra's Needle.  Also known as the Luxor Obelisk and is located at the Place de La Concord in Paris. This was a gift from Muhammad Ali in 1833.  It was originally built over 3,000 years ago and is from the area of Alexandria, Egypt.  Henry Cram wrote in detail the description of the Obelisks he saw in Alexandria.

"In the neighborhood of Alexandria there exist two ancient monuments called Cleopatra's Needles. This fanciful name has been given to two obelisks of red granite, one of which    is erect, and the other prostrate. According to a survey of the latter, made by Clarke, the base measures seven feet square, and the length is sixty-six feet. They are covered with hieroglyphics cut into he stone to the depth of two inches."(Cram)

 

 Palace de La Concord

Place de la Concorde (VDW)

Cleopatra's Needle was placed in the Palace de La Concord.  This was the site of the deadliest inventions by man, the Guillotine.  The plaza would be filled with wall-to-wall people.  They all came to witness a beheading and during the revolution it was a mad house.  

 The Guillotine

Dernières traces visibles de la guillotine à Paris (Dernières traces visibles de la guillotine à Paris)

The Guillotine was named after Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotine.  Dr. Guillotine did not invent this tool.  He recommended its use as a more humane way to execute individuals.  I do not think he foresaw how much easier it would be to execute individuals with the Guillotine. At one point, there was a mandate to conduct executions instead of imprisonment.  As you can see from the picture, beheadings became the main attraction.

The chief executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson, inherited the job from his father.  During his 50-year span, he removed the head from over 3,000 individuals.  He wrote the following in his memoirs. 

"Charles-Henry Sanson insisted on the urgent necessity of a machine which would keep the sufferer’s body in a horizontal position and ensure prompter and safer operation than could be expected of hand work."(Sanson)

As you can see, Sanson agreed with Dr. Guillotine this was a more humane way to conduct executions.  Louis XVI who named himself the people's king, approved its construction 1791.  Two years later, he would be executed, by the device he approved, for conspiring with foreign powers.

Our Next stop will be the Bastille. - The Bastille

 Works Cited

Cram, Henry. "The Saturday Magazine." 1839 (n.d.). 11 April 2023. <https://www.proquest.com/openview/7fd9c9eabdaf38d5/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1465>.

Dernières traces visibles de la guillotine à Paris. 2022. 12 April 2023. <https://www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/paris-reportage/histoire-guillotine>.

Price, Willie. Cleopatra's Needle at Place de La Concord. Paris. 11 April 2023. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/cleopatras-needle-at-place-de-la-concord--369998925607470995/>.

Sanson, Charles-Henri. SANSON ON THE BIRTH OF THE GUILLOTINE (1792). 1792. 12 April 2023. <https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/sanson-birth-of-guillotine-1792/>.

VDW, Dennis. Place de la Concorde. www.tripsavvy.com. The Top 8 Things to Do Around the Place de la Concorde in Paris By COURTNEY TRAUB. Paris, 2019. 11 April 2023. <https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-top-things-to-do-around-the-place-de-la-concorde-4587850>.