Conciergerie

I now know that the Île de la Cité is one of the most important places in the entire city of Paris at least a few hundred years ago. The Île de la Cité was home to the royal palace and there were a few other structures were built here with it. The palace complex included a royal courtroom which is now the court of Appeals of Paris. There is an impressive clock tower here which is considered the oldest in Paris. Along the River Seine, I realize that there is a massive building. There are a few towers here which you might think of as belonging to a castle. That might have been true at some point. But its most important function was that it used to be a prison.

Note that the royal courthouse is just around the corner. Anyone who is found guilty would then be shipped off to prison and it won’t be a long walk. I didn’t do a tour of this place any more since I have plans after this. I just walked outside the very large building and admired it. One of the most famous residents of the prison was Marie Antoinette. She was imprisoned here during the French revolution, eventually she was executed. The most prominent feature of the Conciergerie are the towers which add to that feeling of size to the already large structure. Looking at it from the river, it does appear to be impregnable. Not surprising that this was used as a prison back then.

[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/Conciergerie.kmz} zoom=19]