Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

EXPERIENCE MORE

notorious inmate was Marie The site has been occupied
4 " ' = Antoinette, who was held in a since Roman times, when it was
Conciergerie tiny cell until her execution in the governors’ residence. It was
1793. Others included proto- the seat of royal power, until
 G4 ⌂ 2 bd du Palais feminist Charlotte Corday, Charles V moved the court to
EXPERIENCE Paris: Île de la Cité, Marais and Beaubourg
75001 q Cité # 9:30am–
6pm daily ¢ 1 Jan, who stabbed revolutionary the Marais following a bloody
1 May, 25 Dec ∑ paris. leader Jean-Paul Marat. The revolt in 1358. In April 1793
conciergerie.fr Conciergerie has a splendid the notorious Revolutionary
four-aisled Gothic hall, where Tribunal began dispensing
Forming part of the huge guards of the royal household justice from the Première
Palais de Justice, the historic once lived. Reno vated during Chambre Civile (or first civil
Conciergerie served as a the 19th century, the building chamber). Today the site is
prison from 1391 to 1914. retains its 11th-century tor- emblematic of Napoléon’s
Henri IV’s assassin, François ture chamber and an ornate great legacy – the French
Ravaillac, was imprisoned 14th-century clock tower. judicial system.
and tortured here in 1610.
During the Revolution, the
building was packed with over 5 6
4,000 prisoners. Its most
Palais de Justice Pont Neuf
 G4 ⌂ 4 bd du Palais  G4 ⌂ 75001 q Pont
INSIDER TIP
Ticket Savings 75001 q Cité, Châtelet Neuf, Cité
If you plan on visiting # 9am–5pm Mon–Fri Despite its name (New Bridge),
¢ Public hols & Aug recess
both the Conciergerie ∑ cours.appel.justice.fr this bridge is the oldest in Paris
and Ste-Chapelle on the and has been immortalized
same day, you can save This huge block of build ings by major literary and artistic
money by buying a making up the law courts of figures. The first stone was laid
combined ticket, which Paris stretches the entire by Henri III in 1578, but it was
is also valid for a year, at width of the Île de la Cité. Henri IV (whose statue stands
either sight’s website. It is a charming sight with its at the centre) who inaugurated
Gothic towers lining the quays. it and gave it its name in 1607.

The Conciergerie, with its
medieval turreted towers,
overlooking the River Seine
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