The oldest historical monument in Paris, the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde, is undergoing a renovation in the first half of 2022, in particular to fight against the harmful effects of pollution.
Donated by the Egyptian viceroy in 1830, it took two and a half years to bring it back to Paris and just as much time before it stood in the center of the Place de la Concorde.
For Marie-Pierre Demarcq, head of the archive mission at the Navy Museum, this extraordinary expedition is worthy of a “Hollywood epic”.
Facelift for the oldest historic monument in Paris.
On the occasion of the bicentenary of the deciphering of hieroglyphs by Champollion, the Ministry of Culture has decided to clean up the Concorde obelisk.
The objective is to rid the monument of the film of pollution embedded in the Egyptian symbols carved in stone.
Let's take advantage of this great spring cleaning to return, with Marie-Pierre Demarcq, head of the archive mission at the Musée de la marine and curator of the exhibition
Le voyage de l'obelisk
in 2014, to the "Hollywood epic" which allowed ancient Egypt to take pride of place in the middle of Paris.
The Concord obelisk is above all a diplomatic gift.
At the end of the 1920s, Mehemet Ali, Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, embarked on the modernization of his country with the backing of Western experts, particularly French.
And to woo the latter, he sends gifts to France.
It was a giraffe given to Charles X that ended up in the Natural History Museum and in 1829 it was two obelisks from Alexandria.
Except that these are not in great condition and "Champollion offers the viceroy to offer those of Luxor, much better preserved but 700 km from the mouth of the Nile", relates Marie-Pierre Demarcq.
A ship that cannot hold the sea
As Mehemet Ali was not too interested in ancient heritage, the donation was recorded in 1830. But it still had to be recovered.
Despite the change of regime in July, the credits were voted and the operation was entrusted to a Navy engineer, Apollinaire Lebas.
A ship is specially built in Toulon for transport, the
Luxor
.
"In April 1831, the boat left Toulon with 121 people on board and arrived in Alexandria after a difficult crossing because it was a flat-bottomed ship with five keels that could not withstand the sea at all", specifies the archivist.
But the ship continued on its way and went up the Nile by towing to Luxor, which it reached on August 14, 1831.
On site, a camp is set up with “mill, vegetable garden, hospital during the work,” says Marie-Pierre Demarcq.
First of all, the obelisk must be completely de-sanded with the help of hundreds of local workers, then surround it with a wooden formwork to protect it during transport.
It is then necessary to build a towpath of 400 meters to the Nile.
A colossal project complicated by an epidemic of cholera which affects Luxor as well as crew members.
“Finally on October 31, the obelisk is ready to be moved.
Two felling machines operated by 200 men bring down the monument,” says the archivist.
Except that the 222 ton obelisk is pointing in the wrong direction and it takes several weeks to reposition it.
Eight months of waiting
On December 19, the 23-meter granite column was near the
Luxor
where it was loaded and moored.
“The ship is ready to leave on Christmas Day, but the Nile is at its lowest and the
Luxor
, too heavy, cannot sail.
“We must therefore wait for the flood which will not be there for six months.
But in June, an epidemic of dysentery sidelined half the crew.
It was not until August 25 that the
Luxor
could therefore set off again, almost 17 months after its departure from Toulon!
And again, it was necessary to engage 60 Egyptian sailors because of the death of 12 men of the expedition and the repatriation of twenty others for health reasons.
“On October 2, the expedition arrived at La Rosette, but there was still a sandbar to cross to reach the port of Alexandria, explains Marie-Pierre Demarcq.
Once again, the Nile was too low and the crew decided to spend the winter there.
Except that luck, the winds and currents change allowing the
Luxor
to cross the bar and reach Alexandria on January 2nd.
France dispatched the
Sphinx
, the first operational steamship, to tow the
Luxor
to Toulon.
But who says winter in the Mediterranean, says storm and the departure is postponed to April 1, 1833, two years after leaving Toulon.
Engineer Lebat puts his life on the line
Finally, the convoy reached the French port on May 10 before leaving on June 22 to go up the Atlantic coast to Rouen, reached on September 14.
Once again, it was necessary to wait for the flooding of the Seine to ascend the river and reach Paris on December 18, 1833. Five days later, the ship and its obelisk were stranded in a hold created for the occasion.
But then the question of the pedestal of the obelisk arises.
The original, cracked, had been left in Luxor and it was decided to order another in granite from Finistère.
The
Luxor
, unloaded from the obelisk and put to use again and brought the 240-ton pedestal back to Paris.
Finally, on October 25, 1836, the obelisk was ready to be straightened.
"A crowd of 200,000 Parisians gathered in great silence on the Place de la Concorde," says Marie-Pierre Demarcq.
Three hundred and fifty artillerymen are placed on the lifting devices.
Lebat is under the obelisk to lead the operation, ready to die if they fail.
And at 2:30 p.m., the obelisk finally rests on its pedestal, a French flag is hoisted to its top and the crowd breaks into applause.
This feat will not be repeated since France will never seek the second obelisk.
Moreover, in September 1981, François Mitterrand decided to return it to Egypt.
The Concorde obelisk will remain unique.
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