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Conciergerie Review

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Conciergerie

Address: 2 bd. du Palais, Ile de la Cité, Paris
Phone: 01-53-40-60-90-3
conciergerie.monuments-nationaux.fr

Category: Architectural Sites
Location: Ile de la Cité and Ile St-Louis

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Fodor's Review:

Much of Ile de la Cité's medieval buildings fell victim to wunderkind planner Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann's ambitious rebuilding program of the 1860s. Among the rare survivors are the jewel-like Sainte-Chapelle, a vision of shimmering stained glass, and the Conciergerie, the former city prison where Marie-Antoinette and other victims of the French Revolution spent their last days.

Built by Philip IV in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Conciergerie was part of the original palace of the kings of France, before the royals moved into the Louvre, in 1358; in 1391, this palace was turned into a prison. During the French Revolution, the Conciergerie famously imprisoned Queen Marie-Antoinette as she awaited her fatal trip to the guillotine. You can visit a re-creation of Marie-Antoinette's cell, see lifelike wax figures sadly await their fate behind bars, and read letters penned by some of Paris's famous revolutionaries. The chapel's stained glass is emblazoned with the initials M. A.; it was commissioned after the queen's death by her daughter. Outside, in the courtyard, victims of the Terror spent their final days playing piquet, writing letters to loved ones, washing clothes, and waiting for the dreaded climb up the staircase to the Chamber of the Revolutionary Council to hear its final verdict. The building takes its name from the palace's concierge, or high-level keeper of the palace.

Cost: EUR 6.50, joint ticket with Sainte-Chapelle EUR 10.50
Open: Mar.-Oct., daily 9:30-6; Nov.-Feb., daily 9-5
Metro: Cité

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