The Palais de Justice, the Conciergerie and the Tour de l'Horloge, after 1858 - by Adrien Dauzats

The Conciergerie (French: La Conciergerie) is a former prison in Paris, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, near the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. It is part of the larger complex known as the Palais de Justice, which is still used for judicial purposes. The Palais de Justice, the Conciergerie and the Tour de lHorloge, after 1858 - by Adrien Dauzats The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with copyright terms of life of the author plus 70... The Palais de Justice, the Conciergerie and the Tour de lHorloge, after 1858 - by Adrien Dauzats The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with copyright terms of life of the author plus 70... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur Tossed by the waves, she does not founder Coordinates : , Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) Administration Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Département Paris (75) Région ÃŽle-de-France Mayor Bertrand Delanoë (PS) City (commune) Characteristics Land Area 86. ... The ÃŽle de la Cité seen from the west, downstream The ÃŽle de la Cité, an island in the Seine river, is the center of Paris, France, and the location where the city was founded. ... This article is about the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. ... The Paris Hall of Justice (Palais de Justice de Paris) is located in the Île de la Cité in central Paris, France. ...

The medieval Conciergerie

The Conciergerie was originally a part of the palace of King Philip IV (Philip the Fair) (1284-1314). It was a section of the palace precinct controlled by a person of high degree, the concierge or keeper of the royal palace. Its ground floor levels, built in Philip's reign, are dominated by the Guardroom and the Hall of Men-at-arms, which are exceptional examples of medieval secular architecture. The latter is particularly striking: 209 feet long, 90 feet wide and 28 feet high, it was used as a dining-room for the 2,000 staff who worked in the palace. It was heated with four large fireplaces and lit by many windows, now blocked up. It was also used for royal banquets and judicial proceedings. The neighboring Guardroom was used as an antechamber to the Great Hall immediately above, where the king held his lit de justice (a session of parliament in the king's presence). Philippe IV, recumbent statue on his tomb, Royal Necropolis, Saint Denis Basilica Philip IV (French: Philippe IV; 1268–November 29, 1314) was King of France from 1285 until his death. ... // Events War and politics King Charles II of Naples is captured in a naval battle off Naples by Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon. ... Events June 24 - Battle of Bannockburn. ...

View from the river Seine. Compare the part where pollution has been cleaned (right) to the part where it hasn't yet been (left).

The royal family abandoned the palace in 1358, moving across the river to the Louvre. In 1391 the building was converted for use as a prison. Its prisoners were a mixture of common criminals and political prisoners. In common with other prisons of the time, the treatment of prisoners was very dependent on their wealth, status and connections. The very wealthy or influential usually got their own cells with a bed, desk and materials for reading and writing. Less well-off prisoners could afford to pay for simply-furnished cells called pistoles, which would be equipped with a rough bed and perhaps a table. The poorest, known as the pailleux from the hay (paille) that they slept on, would be confined to dark, damp, vermin-infested cells called oubliettes (literally "forgotten places"). In keeping with the name, they were left to die in conditions that were ideal for the plague and other infectious diseases which were rife in the insanitary conditions of the prison. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 2058 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 2058 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Events Jacquerie. ... The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre) in Paris, France, is the largest museum in the world. ... Events August 5 - Anti-Jewish riots erupt in Toledo, Spain and Barcelona. ... Yersinia pestis seen at 2000x magnification. ...

Three towers survive from the medieval Conciergerie: the Caesar Tower, named in honour of the Roman emperors; the Silver Tower, so named for its (alleged) use as the store for the royal treasure; and the Bonbec ("good beak") Tower, which obtained its name from the torture chamber that it housed, in which victims were encouraged to "sing". The building was extended under later kings with France's first public clock being installed around 1370. The current clock dates from 1535. This is a list of Roman Emperors with the dates they controlled the Roman Empire. ... Events Beginning of the rule of Poland by Capet-Anjou family. ... Events January 18 - Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro April - Jacques Cartier discovers the Iroquois city of Stadacona, Canada (now Quebec) and in May, the even greater Huron city of Hochelaga June 24 - The Anabaptist state of Münster (see Münster Rebellion) is conquered and disbanded. ...

The Conciergerie and the French Revolution

The Hall of the Men-at-Arms, one of the largest surviving medieval parts of the Conciergerie

The Conciergerie thus already had an unpleasant reputation before it became internationally infamous as the "antechamber to the guillotine" during the Reign of Terror, the bloodiest phase of the French Revolution. It housed the Revolutionary Tribunal as well as up to 1,200 male and female prisoners at a time. The Tribunal sat in the Great Hall between 2 April 1793 and 31 May 1795 and sent nearly 2,600 prisoners to the guillotine. Its rules were simple. Only two outcomes existed – a declaration of innocence or a death sentence – and in most cases the latter was chosen. The most famous prisoners (and victims) included Queen Marie Antoinette, the poet André Chénier, Charlotte Corday, Madame Élisabeth, Madame du Barry and the Girondins, who were condemned by Georges Danton, who was in turn condemned by Robespierre, who was himself condemned and executed in a final bout of bloodletting. En route to the tumbrils, the victims walked through the Salle Saint-Louis, (Saint Louis Room), which acquired the nickname of the Salle des Perdus, the "Room of the Doomed". Hall of Men at Arms, Conciergerie, Paris Image by ChrisO File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Hall of Men at Arms, Conciergerie, Paris Image by ChrisO File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Maiden, an older Scottish design. ... The Reign of Terror (5 September 1793 – 28 July 1794) or simply The Terror (French: la Terreur) was a period in the French Revolution characterized by brutal repression. ... Liberty Leading the People, a painting by Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830 but which has come to be generally accepted as symbolic of French popular uprisings against the monarchy in general. ... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria (born November 1755 – executed 16 October 1793) Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XVI and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. ... André Chénier André Marie Chénier (October 30, 1762 – July 25, 1794) was a French poet, associated with the events of the French Revolution. ... Charlotte Corday by Paul Jacques Aimé Baudry, painted 1860: Under the Second Empire, Marat was seen as a revolutionary monster and Corday as a heroine of France, represented in the wall-map. ... Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène of France (May 3, 1764 – May 10, 1794), commonly called Madame Élisabeth, was a French princess, the daughter of Louis, dauphin de France and Marie-Josèphe of Saxony and the younger sister of King Louis XVI. Élisabeth was born at Versailles in 1764. ... Madame du Barry [1] [2] (Marie-Jeanne, Countess du Barry) (August 19, 1743 - December 8, 1793) was a French courtesan who became the mistress of Louis XV of France. ... The Girondists (in French Girondins, and sometimes Brissotins), comprised a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre, (May 6, 1758–July 28, 1794), known also to his contemporaries as the Incorruptible, is one of the best known of the leaders of the French Revolution. ... Only representation of Saint Louis known to be true to life - Early 14th century statue from the church of Mainneville, Eure, France King Louis IX of France or Saint Louis (April 25, 1214/1215 – August 25, 1270) was King of France from 1226 until his death. ...

After the Restoration of the Bourbons in the 19th century, the Conciergerie continued to be used as a prison for high-value prisoners – most notably the future Napoleon III. Marie Antoinette's cell was converted into a chapel dedicated to her memory. The Conciergerie and Palais de Justice underwent major rebuilding in the mid-19th century, totally altering their external appearance. While the building looks like a brooding medieval fortress, this appearance actually only dates from about 1858. Following the ouster of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Allies restored the Bourbon Dynasty to the French throne. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (April 20, 1808 - January 9, 1873) was the son of King Louis Bonaparte and Queen Hortense de Beauharnais; both monarchs of the French puppet state, the Kingdom of Holland. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The Conciergerie was decommissioned in 1914 and was opened to the public as a national historical monument. It is today a popular tourist attraction, although only a relatively small part of the building is open to public access – much of it is still used for the Paris law courts. 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Popular visitor attractions in Paris
Arc de Triomphe • Cathedral of Notre Dame • Centre Georges Pompidou • Champs-Élysées • Conciergerie • Eiffel Tower • Grand Palais • Jardin du Luxembourg • Les Invalides • Louvre • Musée d'Orsay • Opéra Garnier • Père Lachaise Cemetery