Conciergerie

Paris (1er arrondissement)

The Conciergerie is what remains of the palace of the Cité, where the Capetian kings lived, Philip Augustus and Saint Louis among others. Philip the Fair had the Hall of the Men-at-Arms built there between 1300 and 1314, 1,785 m² beneath Gothic vaults, which the Centre des monuments nationaux describes as the largest civil Gothic hall in Europe. Charles V was the last king to live there. The Parlement of Paris, the highest court in the kingdom, sat in the palace, and the concierge appointed by the king to dispense justice there turned part of it into a prison — hence the name. Around 1370 Charles V had placed on the Clock Tower what is held to be the oldest public clock in Paris. In 1793 the Revolutionary Tribunal moved into the palace: Marie-Antoinette, transferred on the night of 1 to 2 August, was tried and condemned there on 16 October. Listed as a historic monument in 1862, the Conciergerie, together with the neighbouring Sainte-Chapelle, which has its own entry, is what survives of the royal palace.

Getting there : Open every day except 1 May and 25 December, paid entry; joint ticket with the Sainte-Chapelle; security check.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound