La Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle

After Peter finished class this morning, we met on the Ile de la Cite for a little sightseeing. We decided to visit the Conciergerie which was originally used as a royal residence. The Ile de la Cite was the official center of Paris even back in the 6th century with the first French king, Clovis. Five centuries later, Hugues Capet established the government on the same island. At the end of the 1300's, Charles V moved his royal residence from this spot, and began to use it as a palace and prison. A "concierge" was left to run the prison and palace. Years later, this prison would house Marie-Antoinette for 76 days until her beheading at the Place de la Concord.

The Conciergerie under scaffolding

The entry to this site leads visitors through the Hall of Men-At-Arms, which was built in 1302 and is an example of Gothic secular architecture. This hall was used by kings and nobles.

 A fragment of a black marble table dating from the 11th century remains in the hall on display.

A beautiful winding staircase behind which is the kitchen.

The line indicates the water level during a 1910 flood.

Original keys and locks from the prison

A plaque commemorating Robespierre's last moments spent in this prison before his death.

A painting depicting the last supper of 21 revolutionary leaders, "Les Girondins", before their deaths in 1793.

The Women's Courtyard was where prisoners were allowed to walk during "free time". They also used the basin below to wash their clothes and a stone table remains in the courtyard where women would wait in groups of 12 for the cart that would carry them to the scaffold.

An original stone table used by prisoners apparently now serves as a seat for tired tourists.

 Marie-Antoinette's original prison cell was turned into a chapel at the request of Louis XVII. This is a reconstruction of what her cell would have looked like.

 Sainte-Chapelle is one of the most famous churches in Paris, and is built within the same compound as the Conciergerie. This magnificent church supposedly housed the relic of Christ's crown of thornes, which was lost or destroyed during the French revolution.

The stained glass windows are some of the most magnificent we've seen.

 

 The Lower Chapel is exquisitely painted, as we learned from our tour guide Malcolm Miller, like many or most medieval churches were painted in bright colors.

At the front of the chapel stands a statue of Louis IX, who became Saint-Louis for whom the Ile Saint-Louis (and St. Louis, Missouri) was named.

 The Palais de Justice which houses the courts of Paris, is also a beautiful building. This block houses the Conciergerie, Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais de Justice together. Sainte-Chapelle's steeple can be seen just to the left in the photo below.