Eugène Atget's photograph of a pavilion and column documents an architecturally and historically significant site. The pavilions were constructed in 1787; six years later, in 1794, more than one thousand people were guillotined here in a two-month period during the French Revolution. Atget was well versed in the history of Paris and was concerned with recording important sites as well as aspects of the culture that were disappearing. The pavilion and the column comprise an ensemble that was part of a gateway in the wall that circled Paris.