Obélisque de Louxor

The Obélisque de Louxor stands as a massive shaft of pink granite covered in carved hieroglyphs that track the deeds of Ramesses the Great. It is the oldest monument in Paris, having spent over three thousand years at the entrance to the Temple of Luxor before arriving in the Place de la Concorde in eighteen thirty-six. Moving it required engineers to build a custom ship, the Luxor, which navigated the Nile and the Atlantic to bring this two-hundred-ton monolith to France.