Paris - Conciergerie - 1er

Plate XXIV - The Conciergerie

Viewed here across the Seine, the fortress like stonework of the Conciergerie looks grey and forbidding. It should, for it is here that many of the 2500 victims of Madame la Guillotine (including Marie Antoinette and her King) spent the last hours of their prison days before meeting their unhappy public fates at various locations around Paris.  On a sunnier day the turreted towers can have an almost Disney like appearance belying its function as a part of the greater complex of the Palais de Justice.

It is known that the Île de la Cité has been occupied since Roman times when Paris was known as Lutèce. It was here on the west part of the isle that the Palais de la Cité was built in the Middle Ages and became a seat of the royal court of France. The Grande Salle (Great Hall) as it survives today as part of the lower Conciergerie was used as a dining hall for 2000 palace staff, as well as a meeting place for the high court of justice. Much of the original room and its furnishings were devastated by fires in 1618 and 1871, but at a length of some sixty-five and a width of twenty-seven metres it remains as impressive a chamber as you will find in all of Europe.

The palace was first converted to prison use at the end of the 14th century. There is a small chapel in the Conciergerie, reconstructed to resemble the one used by Marie Antoinette during her final moments in captivity. I found my visit there surprisingly poignant.