The Conciergerie, located on Île de la Cité and overlooking the Seine, is one of the most somber buildings in the City of Light. Most of us know it as the prison where Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) spent her final weeks, but the Conciergerie has a much longer history than that. It is, after all, a surviving piece of the royal palace, whose foundations go back to the days of Lutetia.
In this article, we’ll take a journey spanning more than two thousand years. Along the way, we’ll learn not only about the Conciergerie but also about the palace where the kings of France lived until the 14th century. We’ll find out when the palace became a notorious prison, and we’ll tell the stories of some of its most famous prisoners. Finally, I’ll give you a glimpse of this important historical monument, along with all the practical information you need for your visit (how to get there, buying tickets, and more).
Now it’s time to go back about two thousand years and begin our historical journey through the somber walls of the Conciergerie.
The History of the Conciergerie Palace
Julian the Apostate Is Proclaimed Emperor in Lutetia
Back in the carefree days of Lutetia, Île de la Cité was a seat of power, home to the Roman ruler of the city (the Left Bank was then the commercial center, while the Right Bank was still empty of residents). One of those rulers was Julian (full name Flavius Claudius Julianus, 331-363), who in the year 361 was proclaimed Augustus (a title equivalent to emperor) by his soldiers, and went down in history as the emperor Julian the Apostate.
Julian was a fascinating historical figure. Among his many plans was to rebuild the Third Temple in Jerusalem, hoping to help Judaism serve as a counterweight to Christianity, which he despised (hence the nickname “the Apostate”). Emperor Julian loved Lutetia dearly, partly thanks to its excellent wines, and he was, in fact, the first great ruler to turn the palace on Île de la Cité into the administrative center not just of Lutetia, but of the entire Roman Empire.
But Julian’s reign lasted only about two years, and he was killed in battle against the Persians. The Third Temple was never built, and the palace on Île de la Cité went back to being “just” the palace of the local Roman governor. All that changed at the end of the fifth century, when Clovis (c. 466-511), leader of the Franks, conquered Gaul and became the first king of France.
Clovis and his successors from the Merovingian dynasty turned Lutetia into Paris, and the governor’s palace became the king’s palace. So from the early sixth century until the late seventh century, the Merovingian kings lived in this palace.
But in the year 751, the last Merovingian king was deposed by his own palace steward, who became King Pepin the Short (Pépin le Bref, c. 714-768, r. 751-768). Pepin’s son, Charlemagne (r. 768-814), and his Carolingian successors preferred to rule their kingdom from the city of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), and during their reign, the king’s palace on Île de la Cité lost its importance.
The Rise and Fall of the Palais de la Cité
All that changed again in 987, when Hugh Capet (941-998), founder of the Capetian dynasty and Count of Paris, came to power. He decided to restore the palace’s former glory, and the palace on Île de la Cité once again became the seat of the king of France. To turn the place into a palace worthy of a king, Hugh had it renovated and expanded, a process that took about 300 years and during which a beautiful chapel was added to the royal complex: none other than Sainte-Chapelle.
The process reached its peak in 1298, when King Philip IV, known as Philip the Fair (r. 1285-1314), decided to turn the Palais de la Cité into the most beautiful palace in the kingdom. The result was truly spectacular, and included not only the king’s living quarters but also the royal treasury and the main law court. What remains from this palace today is the Great Hall (now part of the courthouse on Île de la Cité), which you can visit for free (you just need to go through the security line at the courthouse entrance).
The most prestigious position in medieval France was that of the king’s Concierge. Unlike the concierge of a Parisian apartment building, his job was not to hand out mail, keep the place clean, or keep an obsessive eye on comings and goings. The royal Concierge was, in fact, the man with the authority to decide who got to meet the king and who did not. So it’s no surprise that the Concierge’s residence (the Conciergerie) stood right next to the king’s own palace.
The kings of France continued to live in the Palais de la Cité until 1357. That changed after the revolt of the provost of the merchants of Paris, Étienne Marcel (whom you can read about in the article on the Hôtel de Ville), against the dauphin Charles, the future King Charles V (r. 1364-1380). During the revolt, Étienne Marcel and his men broke into the king’s palace and murdered two of his advisors right before his eyes.
The revolt ultimately failed, but the king concluded that the Palais de la Cité could no longer offer him adequate protection, so he decided to move to the Hôtel Saint-Pol, located in the Marais, and later to the Louvre. As a result, the Palais de la Cité stopped functioning as a royal palace and became the seat of the Parlement of Paris.
In those days, the Parlement of Paris was not a place where laws were passed, meals were eaten in a cafeteria, and politics was argued over. From the Middle Ages and for many years afterward, the Parlement functioned as a court of law, where the perpetrators of the most serious crimes in Paris were usually tried. So it’s no surprise that the Concierge’s residence, now emptied of its occupants, became a prison in 1391 (the king’s steward had moved with his master to the Louvre).
From Ravaillac to Prosper Mérimée: The Conciergerie’s Famous “Guests”
As I mentioned at the start of this article, we all know the Conciergerie’s most famous prisoner, Marie Antoinette, but the Conciergerie prison hosted plenty of other famous inmates. Here are a few examples of celebrities who enjoyed an “all-inclusive” stay at the Conciergerie (death penalty included) long before France’s former queen:
- François Ravaillac (1578-1610), the man who assassinated King Henri IV (r. 1589-1610) and spent his final days here before being executed in a horrifically brutal manner at Place de Grève.
- The Marquise de Brinvilliers (Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d’Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers, 1630-1676), who poisoned most of her own family to collect their inheritance (you can read about her in the article on the Poison Affair).
- The bandit Cartouche (Louis Dominique Bourguignon, known as “Cartouche,” 1693-1721), who terrorized Paris’s wealthy until he was caught and executed.
During the Reign of Terror (1792-1794), the Conciergerie became not only a prison but also the seat of the Revolutionary Tribunal, where countless nobles and former revolutionaries were sentenced in assembly-line fashion. Since the odds of leaving the Conciergerie alive were very low, it quickly earned the nickname “the corridor to death.”
One of the few people who somehow managed to leave the Conciergerie alive during that period was Sir William Codrington, an English subject who had the bad luck of being in Paris in 1794. From his diary, we can learn about the living conditions there during the French Revolution:
My cellmate and I had to share two tiny beds, which left no room for our legs. I didn’t get sheets until about three weeks into my imprisonment. The ceiling was very low, and the air was so bad that none of us could sleep more than an hour a day.
I lived in this “pleasant” place for four months, and during that time, most of my cellmates left me straight for the guillotine…
William Codrington, as I said, was lucky. He survived, unlike more than 2,200 prisoners who traveled from here to Place de la Concorde (then known as “Place de la Révolution”) or to Place de la Nation for a short but painful date with Madame Guillotine. Here are a few of the more famous names who spent their final days at the Conciergerie:
- André Chénier (1762-1794), a famous French poet and supporter of the Revolution, who became its enemy the moment he spoke out against the Terror. As luck would have it, he was executed just three days before Robespierre’s downfall.
- Charlotte Corday (Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d’Armont, 1768-1793), who assassinated Marat, a venomous journalist and one of the greatest instigators of violence between 1789 and 1793 (you can read about both of them in Dr. Effi Ziv’s article, The Death of Marat).
- Madame Roland (Marie-Jeanne “Manon” Roland de la Platière, 1754-1793), who, like André Chénier, supported the revolutionaries until the start of the Reign of Terror. We remember her, among other things, for her immortal last words, spoken moments before she was beheaded: “O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name.”
- Madame du Barry (Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry, 1743-1793), the last royal mistress (she was the mistress of Louis XV). She made the mistake of her life when she returned to France from England, where she had fled at the outbreak of the French Revolution, and was quickly arrested for treason.
- Georges Danton (1759-1794), a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety and one of the most radical revolutionaries. None of that helped him once he fell out with Robespierre and was sent, with full honors, to the Conciergerie and from there to the guillotine.
- And of course, no account of the Conciergerie would be complete without mentioning Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), who was brought here from the Temple fortress. Here she was tried in a show trial whose outcome was known in advance, and from here she left on October 16 to meet the guillotine. Also imprisoned here was Madame Élisabeth (1764-1794), sister of Louis XVI (r. 1774-1792), who was executed a short time after her sister-in-law.
The Reign of Terror ended in July 1794 with the execution of Robespierre (Maximilien Robespierre, 1758-1794), who also spent his last day here (with a bullet in his jaw). But that doesn’t mean the Conciergerie stopped serving as a prison. In fact, it took France exactly 120 years to turn the place into a museum, and during that time, quite a few more people enjoyed an “all-inclusive” stay there (minus the guillotine, in most cases).
One of the most important and surprising “guests” of the Conciergerie was the writer Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870), whom we know for the opera Carmen by composer Georges Bizet (1838-1875), based on his novella.
In 1852, Mr. Mérimée insulted a court official during the trial of a close friend, and was sent to the Conciergerie. It didn’t help that he held the Legion of Honor and was a member of the French Academy. He was sentenced to two weeks, which he spent in one of the prison’s stifling cells (unluckily for him, he was locked up in July). The fact that Prosper Mérimée held, at the time, the position of “Inspector of Historic Monuments of France” only added to the irony of the situation.
But don’t worry, Mérimée’s imprisonment wasn’t nearly as bad as you might think. He was allowed to bring plenty of furniture into his cell, including cushions and even a Persian rug. He spent his time reading, writing trivia questions, and meeting with friends who came to visit him. In the evenings, he liked to stroll in the “Women’s Courtyard” (Cour des Femmes), named for the fact that the female prisoners used to do laundry there, and where he befriended four cats (he claimed their manners were so impeccable you’d think they lived in the king’s own court).
Visiting the Conciergerie
During the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870), who himself had “lived” here after trying to overthrow King Louis-Philippe (1773-1850), the Conciergerie and the Palais de la Cité underwent a massive renovation. As a result, even though the building looks like a medieval relic, most of what you see today was actually built during the 19th century.
The Conciergerie stopped functioning as a prison in 1914, and has since become one of the major attractions of Paris. You can enter the Conciergerie from Boulevard du Palais, but before you do, I highly recommend stopping for a moment to admire the beautiful clock right at the start of the boulevard.
This clock was built by King Jean II (r. 1350-1364) and served as the first public clock in Paris. During the 16th century, it got a “facelift” under King Henri III (r. 1574-1589), and has been restored several times since. If you’d like to learn more about it, you can read the article The Ancient Clock Tower of Paris.
Once you’re done admiring the clock, head inside the Conciergerie and start your tour (you’ll find all the practical information about opening hours, tickets, and more further down).
The Guard Room
The first room you’ll see after passing the ticket counter is the Guard Room.
This is one of the oldest and most impressive Gothic halls in Paris, where the king’s guardsmen once lived and worked. Take a look at the enormous fireplace in the hall’s kitchen; back in the day, a whole calf could be roasted there on a turning spit.
Later, the hall became part of the prison, and cells were installed for the unfortunate souls awaiting their sentence. One floor below the hall sat the Revolutionary Tribunal, from which the infamous public prosecutor Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville (1746-1795) sent thousands of people to their deaths after brief show trials.
In the Guard Room, you can also see the infamous “Rue de Paris.” This was the corridor the executioner used to walk through; his nickname was “Monsieur de Paris,” which is why the corridor is still named after him today.
If you’d like to read more about the famous dynasty of Paris executioners, one of whose members beheaded Louis XVI, I invite you to read the article Sanson the Hero.
Marie Antoinette’s Prison Cell
Once you’ve finished exploring the enormous Gothic hall, head up to the second floor. There you’ll find a somber corridor and a long row of cells where the prisoners lived. Wealthier prisoners (like Prosper Mérimée, whom we discussed earlier) got a furnished cell, complete with paper and books, to help pass the time.
Poorer prisoners could pay a modest fee for a small cell with a bed and a table (these cells were called “Pistoles,” after the coin used to pay for the “privilege” of staying in one). Prisoners with nothing were thrown into tiny cells with a bit of straw scattered on the floor. Conditions in these cells were brutal, and quite a few prisoners died of diseases they caught while staying there. These cells were called “Oubliettes,” from the verb “oublier” (to forget), since the prisoners were simply forgotten there until they died.
The most famous cell in the Conciergerie is, of course, the one where Marie Antoinette lived during her final months. Louis XVIII (1755-1824) turned this cell into a kind of memorial chapel in her honor, and as you approach it, you’ll see memorial plaques on the wall honoring some of the most famous people who spent their final days at the Conciergerie.
The Courtyard of the Conciergerie
After you’ve finished visiting the various cells, you can head back down to the courtyard. This is where some of the prisoners were allowed to walk and get some fresh air. It’s also where the cart stood that carried prisoners to their execution (first to Place de la Révolution, or Concorde, later to Place de la Bastille, and finally to Place de la Nation).
Once you’ve finished exploring the courtyard, you can head back to the gift shop in the Guard Room and then out, happy and relieved that your head is still attached to your shoulders.
Practical Information for Travelers
I hope this article has made you want to visit this somewhat somber but important place. Below you’ll find all the information you need for your visit.
Address of the Conciergerie
The entrance to the Conciergerie is at: 2 Boulevard du Palais. The easiest way to get there is on metro line 4 (get off at Cité, or you can also get off at Saint-Michel and walk a short distance). If you’d rather take the bus, you can take one of the following lines:
- 21
- 24
- 27
- 38
- 81
- 85
- 96
Opening Hours
The Conciergerie is open every day from 09:00 to 18:30.
Buying Tickets
To save time waiting in line at the ticket counter, I highly recommend buying your ticket in advance. You can buy tickets on the Monuments page on the official website. If you’ve decided to get the Museum Pass, you can enter the Conciergerie for free and skip the line.
Looking for more information about Paris?
This article is just a small part of my Paris guide, which includes walking routes, recommendations, information about attractions, and more. You can find it in the article Paris Travel Guide.
Enjoyed this article about the Conciergerie? Here are two more articles loosely related to the topic
- Square Montholon: A Charming Parisian Corner with a Fascinating Story: an article that discusses, among other things, the Sanson family (the family of executioners I mentioned in this article).
- The Tour de Nesle Affair: Adultery in the Royal Court: another fascinating article by Dr. Orna Liberman, about an affair that indirectly led to the outbreak of the Hundred Years’ War, and that took place in the king’s palace on Île de la Cité.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Conciergerie?
Which famous prisoner was held at the Conciergerie?
What’s the connection between the Conciergerie and the video game Assassin’s Creed Unity?
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