Luxor Obelisk

The Obelisk of Luxor is a 23 m high, 250 -ton Egyptian monolith of granite. It dates from the 13th century BC and is since 1836 on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. He is one of the many monuments on the Axe historique between the Louvre and the Grande Arche.

History

Originally build let him Ramses II at Thebes, where he flanked the passage of the pylon at Luxor Temple with its counterpart. The counterpart still stands on its original site on the east side of the passage. The obelisk was a gift from the 1805 ruling until 1848 the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha ( Mehmet Ali ), to the French king Louis Philippe.

The transport from Egypt to France lasted two years and fell into the responsibility of Jean -François Champollion. On October 25, 1836 Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris could be set up. Since 13 April 1937, the obelisk is classified as a Monument historique. 1998 donated Pierre Bergé for the obelisk a 3.6 m high Pyramidion gilded bronze.