Castle Conciergerie (La Conciergerie) description and photos - France: Paris (Topic)

La Conciergerie description and photos - France: Paris. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is La Conciergerie.

Photo and description

The former royal castle of the Conciergerie, located on the Ile de la Cite near Notre Dame de Paris, can be called the oldest Parisian castle: it traces its ancestry to the palace of the legendary Frankish king Clovis (508 year). However, little remained of the 6th century palace: the French kings continuously completed and rebuilt the building, and it was badly damaged by fires.

For a significant part of its history, the castle was the official residence of the French monarchs, and in this era there was an amazing plot: It was in the Conciergerie that the Russian queen of France Anna Yaroslavna, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, lived.

In the 14th century, during an uprising, the townspeople broke into the castle and killed two royal advisers. After that, the Louvre became the seat of the monarch. A part of the royal administration remained in the Conciergerie, the management of the fortress was transferred to the royal concierge - this is how the current name of the building appeared.

There was a prison not far from the castle. When it overflowed, the functions of the prison were transferred to the Conciergerie. In 1391 the castle became a place of imprisonment for many centuries. During the revolution, those sentenced to death awaited their fate here. From here, having cut off her hair and sat down in a cart, Queen Marie Antoinette went to the scaffold. And from here the father of terror Maximilian Robespierre went to the guillotine.

The conciergerie had a reputation as an extremely harsh prison. During the period of terror, several hundred people were stuffed into cells, criminals along with political and “suspicious” ones. In the Conciergerie Museum you can see a list of prisoners sent from the local cells to the guillotine, - there are 2780 names in it.

Today the Conciergerie Castle is a museum part of the Palace of Justice complex. From the medieval construction of the Capetian era, there are only three towers left: Silver, Caesar's Tower and Bonbek. However, unusual rooms are well preserved: the Ratnikov Hall is the only example of civil Gothic architecture in Europe, the Gothic castle kitchen of the era of Jean the Good (XIV century), the chapel of Marie Antoinette, built exactly on the spot where the queen's chamber was located.

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Topic: Castle Conciergerie (La Conciergerie) description and photos - France: Paris.