The fountains of Place de la Concorde regain their brilliance

2023-08-27 11:22:52

In view of the 2024 Summer Games, the City of Paris has started renovation work this year on Place de la Concorde (8th arrondissement) which, next year, will be the setting for 3× basketball competitions 3, breakdance, BMX freestyle and skateboarding, before hosting the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

View of the renovated Fontaine des Mers on Place de la Concorde in August 2023 (Credits – Clément Dorval / Ville de Paris)

As announced by the City of Paris in the summer of 2022, a partial renovation operation of the largest square in the French capital was initiated earlier this year around the two monumental fountains arranged on either side of the Obelisk of Luxor, as well as at two of the eight sentry boxes surrounding Concorde.

In recent months, palisades have been set up to implement this unique project in the heart of the “City of Lights”a project which has already made it possible to renovate, between June 2022 and June 2023, the Obelisk which, on this occasion, regained its golden steel point designed in a material intended to limit the risk of lightning.

Installation of the point on the pyramidion of the Obelisk of Luxor on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, in June 2023
(Credits – Jean-Baptiste Gurliat / City of Paris)

As regards the fountains inaugurated in 1840, the operation – which follows on from a previous campaign carried out in 2000-2001 – consisted of restoring the shine to the various structures facing the Hôtel de la Marine.

This resulted in tinting and the laying of a layer of protective wax on the ornaments (gilding and bronze), but also in the re-sealing of the basins and basins before they were refilled with water.

It must be said that the various elements are subject both to the repercussions of atmospheric pollution, as well as to permanent contact with water, which over the years alters the color of the structures made of cast iron between 1837 and 1838 according to the plans by architect Jacques-Ignace Hittorff to pay homage to naval power and the Navy.

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Concerning the sentry boxes and statues which represent eight French cities and which encircle the Place de la Concorde, the work was located on the representations of Lille and Strasbourg designed by James Pradier in 1837, the calendar constraint not making it possible to envisage a renovation of all elements by 2024.

Also, the operation started last January, should allow the cleaning of the stones damaged by the deposits of moss, algae and other fungi, not to mention of course the black crusts due to pollution. In the event that the stones cannot be cleaned, a replacement will be made.

In addition to the main structure of the gatehouses, the marble slabs and joinery must also be taken over.

View of the Sentry box of the city of Strasbourg before its renovation in 2023 (Credits – Clément Dorval / City of Paris)

Next year, Place de la Concorde will be temporarily transformed, with the reception of the Olympic urban events of 3×3 basketball, breakdance, BMX freestyle and skateboarding. Grandstands will then be installed in various places in the Parisian square offering in fact a unique and spectacular setting for athletes and spectators.

At the end of the Olympic Games, Concorde will be called upon again, this time with the outfit on site of the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games on the evening of August 28, 2024.

That evening, to welcome the arrival of the 4,400 para-athletes from 184 delegations, no less than 35,000 people will be able to take their seats in the temporary stands on either side of the site, while 30,000 people are expected to to be able to settle down – for free – on the lower part of the Champs-Élysées.

Visual of the parade of athletes during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Place de la Concorde (Credits – Paris 2024 / Florian Hulleu)