There are many amazing sites to discover in Paris and Ile de la Cite is definitely one of them. For those who don’t know the place, the Conciergerie is the beautiful building located on the western part of the Ile de la Cité in the 1st arrondissement. With the Saint Chapelle, it is one of the last vestiges of the former royal palace of the Merovingian dynasty. The towered facade of the Conciergerie on the Seine river side is a very famous sight among tourists and many of them crowd in front of it to take a picture; but in fact, not many visit the Conciergerie. La Conciergerie has been on our bucket list for quite some time but we eventually visited the monument last November.
Little History
La Conciergerie is well known as Marie Antoinette’s prison; it was the antechamber of death during the Reign of Terror. Many prisoners, including Queen Marie-Antoinette and Robespierre, were imprisoned in the Conciergerie before being executed by guillotine. But the Conciergerie wasn’t always a prison, it was originally a royal palace and the residence of the medieval kings of France. In the 14thcentury, after King Charles V abandoned the palace and relocated his residence to the Louvre palace, the Conciergerie housed the Parliament of Paris, then was used as the main state’s Prison and later, served as a courthouse, before becoming a national historical monument open to the public in 1914.
Did you know?
The origin of the name “Conciergerie” comes from its concierge, a person appointed by the king to handle all the household of the place (approximately 2,000 employees).
The Experience
The visit begins with the room “Salle des Gens d’Armes”, the largest remaining medieval room in Europe. It is usually here that you’ll find the latest temporary exhibition. During our visit, there was a very interesting exhibition about Marie Antoinette.
The visit continues with the kitchens dating back from the 14thcentury and the room “Salle des gardes”, the refectory for the employees of the Palace which became a men’s prison and a revolutionary tribunal later on.
Then, you’ll continue your visit with the “prisoners’ corridor”. Prisoners had to pay their own detention themselves; while the rich paid for getting the largest cells, the poor had to stay together in crowded tiny cells and slept on the floor.
After, you’ll find the “Names room”, a room with the names of 4,000 prisoners judged by the Revolutionary Tribunal between 1793 and 1795. The names in red are the persons who were executed and the names in black acquitted.
You’ll finish your visit with the women’s courtyard and since 1815, “the expiatory Chapel” that replaces the cell of Marie Antoinette.
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Our opinion
I have always loved this beautiful monument from the outside and we finally got the chance to visit the place on the inside.
If you plan to visit Sainte-Chapelle, it is well worth it to combine your visit with the Conciergerie. Begin your visit with the Conciergerie as most of the time, there is little or no queue to get in and you’ll get the fast access queue for the Sainte Chapelle! Also, plan your visit according to the current temporary exhibition. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and “Marie Antoinette exhibition” was very well worth it but I am not sure we would have like the visit as much without the exhibition. Last but not least, we advise getting the HistoPad during your visit; it will allow you to ‘step back in time’ with its advanced reality tool and you will be able to see what the rooms looked like at that time. The HistoPad is available in French, English, Spanish, German, Italian and Chinese.
Where? 2, boulevard du Palais on the Ile de la Cité.
Access? La Cité station (Metro Line 4) or Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame station (RER B or C).
When? Open every day from 9:30 am to 6 pm.
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