Nov 17 2008
Places to Visit: La Conciergerie
La Conciergerie (left and also this month’s header image) sits on the Ile de la Cité near Notre Dame in Paris, and by all accounts it’s had quite a chequered history. I’ve not visited La Concergerie, but after reading about it, I’m quite intrigued to go!
It includes the remains of the oldest palace in Paris (Palais de la Cité), but was converted into a prison in the 15th Century. When the Palais was abandoned it was left to be used by Parliament of Paris and the Kingdom’s central administration offices ‘Le Concierge’.
However, it was during the French Revolution that La Conciergerie saw hundreds of prisoners executed at the guillotine. It was known as the ‘antechamber to the guillotine’ during the reign of terror between 5 September 1793 – 28 July 1794.
The most famous prisoners included Queen Marie Antoinette, the poet André Chénier, Charlotte Corday, Madame Élisabeth, Madame du Barry and the Girondins. After the Restoration of the Bourbons in the 19th century, the Conciergerie continued to be used as a prison for high-value prisoners, one of which was the future Napoleon III.
The Conciergerie was decommissioned in 1914 and was opened to the public as a national historical monument. Today only a small part of the building can be visited as much of it is used for the Paris law courts.
You can find out more about La Conciergerie on the Centre des Monuments Nationaux website.
