| Palais de la Cité | |
|---|---|
 View from the west,c. mid-1410s, in theTrès Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. From left to right, theSalle sur l'eau,Logis du Roi, andSainte-Chapelle; upper sections of the still-standing northern front towers, gables of theGrande Salle, and 12th-century circular keep (demolished 1778) are visible behind. | |
  | |
| Alternative names | Palais de Justice |
| General information | |
| Type | palace |
| Architectural style | multiple styles; surviving structures from 13CRayonnant Gothic toearly-20C Eclecticism |
| Location | Île de la Cité,Paris,France |
| Coordinates | 48°51′23″N2°20′44″E / 48.8564°N 2.3456°E /48.8564; 2.3456 |
| Construction started | Roman Empire |
| Completed | 1914 |
| Website | |
| http://www.paris-conciergerie.fr/en/ | |
The Palais de la Cité (French pronunciation:[palɛd(ə)lasite]), located on theSeine River'sÎle de la Cité, is a major historic building in the centre ofParis,France. It was an occasional residence of theKings of France from the early 6th to the 12th century and a permanent one from the late 12th to the 14th century, and has been the center of theFrench justice system ever since, for which it is also referred to as thePalais de Justice.
From the 14th century until theFrench Revolution, the Palais was the headquarters of theParlement of Paris. During the Revolution it served as a courthouse and prison, whereMarie Antoinette and other prisoners were held and tried by theRevolutionary Tribunal. Since the early 19th century, it has been the seat of theTribunal de grande instance de Paris, theCourt of Appeal of Paris, and theCourt of Cassation. The first of these moved toanother Parisian location in 2018, while the latter two jurisdictions remain located in the Palais de la Cité as of 2025.
The palace was built up and restructured many times over the course of many centuries, including following major fires in 1618, 1776 and 1871. Its salient medieval remains are theSainte-Chapelle, a masterpiece ofGothic architecture, and theConciergerie, an early-14th-century palatial complex that served as a prison from 1380 to 1914. Most of its other current structures were rebuilt from the late 18th to early 20th centuries. The Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle can be visited via separate entrances.
Archeological excavations have found traces of human habitation on the Île de la Cité from 5000 BC until the beginning of theIron Age, but no evidence that the Celtic inhabitants, theParisii, used the island as their capital.Julius Caesar recorded meeting with the leaders of the Parisii and other Celtic tribes on the island in 53 B.C., but no archeological evidence of the Parisii has been found there.[1] However, after the Romans conquered the Parisii in the first century BC, the island was developed quickly. While theforum and largest part of the Roman town, calledLutetia, was on the left bank, a large temple was located on the east end of the island, where the Cathedral ofNotre Dame de Paris is found today. The west end of the island was residential, and was the site of the palace of the Roman prefects, or governors. The palace was aGallo-Roman fortress surrounded by ramparts. In the year 360 AD, the RomancaesarJulian the Apostate was declaredEmperor of Rome by his soldiers while he was resident in the city.[2]
Beginning in the 6th century, theMerovingian kings used the palace as their residence when they were in Paris.Clovis, the king of theFranks, lived in the palace from 508 until his death in 511. The kings who followed him, theCarolingians, moved their capital to the eastern part of their empire, and paid little attention to Paris. At the end of the 9th century, after a series of invasions by theVikings threatened the city, KingCharles the Bald had the walls rebuilt and strengthened.Hugh Capet (941-996), the Count of Paris, was electedking of France on 3 July 987, and resided in the fortress when he was in Paris, but he and the otherCapetian kings spent little time in the city, and had other royal residences in Vincennes, Compiègne and Orleans. The administration and archives of the kingdom travelled wherever the king went.[3]
At the beginning of the Capetian dynasty, the king of France ruled directly little more than what is now theÎle-de-France; but through a policy of conquest and intermarriage, they began to expand theroyal domain, and to transform the old Gallo-Roman fortress into a real palace.Robert the Pious, the son of Hugh Capet, who ruled from 996 to 1031, stayed in Paris more often than his predecessors. He rebuilt the fortress in particular to meet the demands of his third wife,Constance of Arles, for greater comfort. Robert reinforced the old walls and added fortified gates; the main entrance, most likely, was on the north side. The walls surrounded a rectangle 130 meters long and 110 meters wide. Within the walls Robert had constructed theSalle de Roi, the meeting room for theCuria Regis, the assembly of nobles and for the royal council. To the west of this building he built his own residence, thechambre de Roi. Finally, he built a chapel dedicated toSaint Nicholas.[3]
Further additions were made byLouis VI, with the help of his friend and ally,Suger, the Abbot of theBasilica of Saint-Denis. Louis VI finished the chapel of Saint Nicholas, demolished the old tower ordonjon in the center, and built a massive new donjon, theGrosse Tour, 11.7 meters wide at the base, with walls three meters thick. This tower existed until 1776.
His son,Louis VII (1120–1180) enlarged the royal residence and added anoratory; the lower floor of the oratory later became the chapel of the presentConciergerie. The entrance to the palace at this time was on the eastern side, on theCour du Mai, where a grand ceremonial stairway was constructed. The western point of the island was transformed into a walled garden and orchard.[4]
Philip-Augustus (1180-1223) modernized the royal administration, and placed the royal archives, the treasury and courts within Palais de la Cité, and thereafter the city functioned, except for brief periods, as the capital of the kingdom. In 1187 he welcomed the English king,Richard the Lion-Heart, to his palace. The court records show the creation of a new official position, the Concierge, whowas responsible for the administration of the lower and mid-level law courts within the palace. The palace later took its name from this position. Philip also greatly improved the air and aroma around the palace by having the muddy streets around it paved with stone. These were the first paved streets in Paris.[5]
The grandson of Philip Augustus,Louis IX (1214-1270), later known as Saint Louis, built a new shrine within the palace walls to demonstrate that he was not just king of France, but also the leader of theChristian world. Between 1242 and 1248, on the site of the old chapel, Louis builtSainte-Chapelle to hold the sacred relics he had acquired in 1238 fromBaldwin II, Latin Emperor atConstantinople, including the reputed crown of thorns and wood from the cross of theCrucifixion of Christ. The chapel had two levels; the lower level for ordinary servants of the king, and the upper level for the king and royal family. The upper chapel was connected directly to the King's residence by a covered passage, called theGalerie Merciére. Only the King was allowed to touch the crown of thorns, which he took out each year onGood Friday.[6]
Louis IX also created several new offices to manage the finances, administration and judicial system of his growing kingdom. This new bureaucracy, housed within the palace, eventually led to conflict between the royal government and the nobles, who had their own high court, theParlement of Paris. To make room for his growing bureaucracy, and to create residences for theChanoines orCanons, who managed the religious establishment, he had the southern wall of the palace demolished and replaced with housing.[citation needed] On the north side of the palace, just outside the walls to the Tour Bonbec, he built a new ceremonial hall, theSalle sur l'eau.
Philip IV (1285-1314) and his Chamberlain,Enguerrand de Marigny, reconstructed, enlarged and embellished the palace. On the north side, he expropriated land belonging to the dukes of Brittany and constructed new buildings for theChambre des Enquetes, which supervised public administration; theGrand'Chambre, another high court; and two new towers, theTour Cesar and theTour d'Argent, as well as a gallery connecting the palace to theTour Bombec. The royal offices took their names from the different chambers, or rooms, of the palace; theChambre des Comptes, chamber of the accounts, was the treasury of the kingdom, and the courts were divided between theChambre civile and theChambre criminelle.[6]
On the site of the old Salle de Roi he built a much larger and more richly decorated assembly hall, theGrand'Salle which had a double nave, each covered with a high arched wooden roof. A row of eight columns in the center of the hall supported the wooden framework of the roof. On each of the pillars, and on columns around the walls, were placed polychrome statues of the kings of France. In the center of the hall was an enormous table made of black marble from Germany, used for banquets, the taking of oaths, meetings of military high courts, and other official functions. A fragment of the table still exists, and is on display in the Conciergerie. TheGrand'Salle was used for royal banquets, judicial proceedings, and theatrical performances.[7][8]
At the west end of the island, wherePlace Dauphine is today, was a walled private garden, a bath house where the King could bathe in the water of the river, and a dock, from which the King could travel by boat to his other residences, theLouvre fortress on the right bank and theTour de Nesle on the left bank.[6]
The lower floor beneath theGrand'Salle contained theSalle des Gardes for the soldiers who protected the King, as well as the dining room for the household of the King, including officers, clerks, court officers and servants. High court officials had their own houses in the city, while lower officials and servants lived within the Palace. The household of the King at the time of Philip IV numbered about three hundred persons; counting the servants of the Queen and of the King's children, the number grew to about six hundred.[9]
Philip made several further major changes to the palace. He reconstructed the south wall, and moved the wall on the east side to enlarge the ceremonial courtyard, The new wall, more that of a palace than a fortress, had two large gates andechauguettes, or small elevated posts for watchmen at the angles of the wall. He restored the Salle d'Eau, extended thelogos de Roi, or royal residence further south, built a new building for Chambre des comptes, or royal treasury, and enlarged the garden. The works were almost complete when the King died in 1314. Philip's successors made a few further additions;John II (1319-1364) constructed new kitchens on two levels northwest of the Grand'Salle, and built a new square tower. Later, his son,Charles V (1338-1380) installed a clock in the tower, and it became known as theTour de l'Horloge.[10]
TheHundred Years War between England and France changed the history and function of the palace. King John II was taken hostage by the English. In 1358 the leader of the Paris merchants,Etienne Marcel, led an uprising against royal authority. His soldiers invaded the palace, and, in the presence of the King's son, the futureCharles V, they killed the King's counselors, Jean de Conflans and Robert de Clermont. The rebellion was abandoned and Marcel was killed, but when Charles V took the throne in 1364, he decided to move his residence a safe distance from the center of the city. He built a new residence, theHôtel Saint-Pol, inthe Marais quarter, close to the safety of theBastille fortress; and later theLouvre Palace and then theChâteau de Vincennes became the royal residences.
The kings of France did not entirely abandon the palace. They returned frequently for ceremonies in the Grand'Salle, receptions for foreign monarchs, to preside over sessions of theParlement of Paris, and to display the sacred relics at Saint-Chapelle for the veneration of the court. Until the 16th century, some of the kings made extended stays within the Palace. Nonetheless, the chief occupation of the palace became the administration of the treasury and especially of royal justice. It became the headquarters of the Parlement of Paris, which was not a legislative body but a high court of the nobility. The Parlement registered all royal decrees, and was the court of appeals for the nobility from decisions of royal tribunals. It met in theGrand'Chambre, with the king presiding. The management of the Palace became the responsibility of the Concierge, a high court official named by the king. At one point in the 15th century, the title belonged toIsabeau of Bavaria, the wife of KingCharles VI. The palace gradually took its name from this official, and was called theConciergerie.
As early as the 14th century, the Palace was also used to confine important prisoners, since it was not necessary to transfer them from the city's majorprison at Châtelet for trial. Furthermore, the palace had its own torture chambers, used to encourage the rapid confessions of prisoners. By the 15th century the palace was one of the major prisons of Paris. The entrance of the prison was located on the main courtyard, theCour du Mai, named for the tree that the clerks of the palace traditionally placed there every spring. The prison cells were located in the lower floors of the palace and in the towers, where the torture was also conducted. Prisoners were rarely kept there for a long time. As soon as judgement was given, they were taken briefly to the parvis in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame to have their confession heard, then to their execution on thePlace de Greve.[11]
Notable prisoners held at the palace before their executions includedEnguerrand de Marigny, the chancellor of Philip IV, who oversaw the construction of much of the palace, accused of corruption by the king's successor,Louis X;Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery, whose lance fatally woundedHenry II during a tournament, who was later accused of advocating religious reforms and disobedience to KingCharles IX;François Ravaillac, the assassin ofHenry IV;Marie-Madeleine d'Aubray, the marquise of Brinvilliers, a famous poisoner; the banditCartouche; andRobert-François Damiens, a Palace servant who tried to killLouis XV.Jeanne of Valois-Saint-Rémy, the Countess de la Motte, the central figure in the notoriousAffair of the Diamond Necklace, who plotted to defraudMarie Antoinette, was held there, whipped, branded with a V forVoleur (thief), then transferred to the Saltpétriére Prison for a life sentence, but escaped a few months later.[12]
From the 14th through the 18th century, the kings of France made many modifications to the palace, particularly to Sainte-Chapelle. In 1383,Charles VI replaced the spire of Sainte-Chapelle, and, at the end of the century, an oratory was built on the outside of the chapel against the south wall. From 1490 to 1495,Charles VIII installed a new rose window on the western façade of the chapel. In 1504,Louis XII added a monumental stairway on the south side of the palace, and constructed a new building for theChambre des comptes, the royal treasury. In 1585,Henry III added a sundial to the wall of the clock tower, and began the construction of thePont Neuf, a new bridge to connect the island to the left and right banks of the Seine. In 1607,Henry IV gave up the royal garden at the end of the island and had a new residential square,Place Dauphine, constructed on the site. In 1611,Louis XIII had the banks of the river around the island rebuilt of stone.
In 1618, a major fire destroyed theGrand'Salle. It was reconstructed following the same plan bySalomon de Brosse in 1622. In 1630 another fire destroyed the spire of Sainte-Chapelle, which was replaced in 1671. In 1671, KingLouis XIV, always short of money for his grandiose projects, followed the earlier practice of Henry IV at Place Dauphine, and began dividing excess land around the palace into lots for new building. By the 18th century, the palace was completely surrounded by private houses and shops built right up against its walls.[13]
In the late 17th and 18th centuries, the palace was struck by a series of natural catastrophes. The River Seine rose during the winter of 1689-1690, flooding the palace and causing considerable damage, including the destruction of the stained glass windows on the lower level of Sainte-Chapelle. In 1737, a fire destroyed the Cour de Comptes. The reconstruction of the building was accomplished byJacques Gabriel, the father ofAnge-Jacques Gabriel, architect of thePlace de la Concorde. An even more serious fire occurred in 1776, causing serious damage to the residence of the King, the Grosse Tour, and the buildings around the Cour de Mai. In the reconstruction, the old Treasury of Chartres, theGrosse Tour and the eastern wall of the palace were demolished. A new face, the present façade, was given to what became known as thePalace of Justice; a new gallery was built at Sainte-Chapelle; a new chapel was constructed inside the Conciergerie to replace the oratory from the 12th century, and many new prison cells were constructed, which were to play a notorious role in the French Revolution.[13]
In the turbulent years before theFrench Revolution, one important center of opposition to the authority of the king, theParlement of Paris, was found within the Conciergerie. In May, 1788, the nobles, who met in the Grand’Salle of the Conciergerie, refused to allowLouis XVI to launch an investigation of one of their members.
In July, 1789, after thestorming of the Bastille, power passed to a newConstituent Assembly, which had little sympathy for the nobles of the Parlement of Paris. The Assembly put the Parlement on an indefinite vacation, and in 1790 the first elected mayor of Paris,Jean Sylvain Bailly, closed and sealed the offices of the Parlement.
The Revolution took a more radical turn in August 1792, when the firstParis Commune and the ’’Sans-culottes’’ seized theTuileries Palace and arrested the King. In September, the ‘’sans-Culottes’’ massacred 1,300 prisoners in four days, including those held in the Conciergerie, who were killed in the ‘’Cour des Femmes’’, the yard where women prisoners were allowed to exercise.[14]
The new revolutionary government of theConvention was soon divided into two factions, the more moderateGirondins and the more radicalMontagnards, led byRobespierre. On March 10, 1793, Convention, over the opposition of the Girondins, ordered the creation of aRevolutionary Tribunal, with its headquarters in the Conciergerie. The tribunal met in the ‘’Grand’Salle’’, where the Parlement of Paris had held its meetings, which was renamed the ‘’Salle de la Liberte’’. It was headed byAntoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville, a former state prosecutor, aided by a jury of twelve members. In the Convention, Robespierre had a newLaw of Suspects passed, which deprived prisoners before the tribunal of most of their rights. There was no appeal to decisions of the tribunal, and sentences of death were carried out the same day.
Among the first to be tried wasMarie Antoinette, who had been held a prisoner for two and half months since thetrial andexecution of her husband, Louis XVI. She was tried on October 16, 1793 and executed on the same day. On October 24, twenty Girondin members of the Convention were put on trial for conspiring against the unity of thenew Republic, and immediately executed. Others brought before the Tribunal and executed includedPhilippe Égalité, a cousin of the King, who had voted for the King's execution (November 6); Bailly, the first elected Mayor of Paris; (November 11), andMadame du Barry, a favorite of the King's grandfather,Louis XV (December 8).[15]
Prisoners rarely spent a long time in the Conciergerie; most were brought there a few days or at the most a few weeks before their trial. There were as many as six hundred prisoners there at a time; a small number of wealthy prisoners were given their own cells, but most were crowded into large common cells, with straw on the floor. At dawn the cell doors were opened the prisoners were allowed to exercise in the courtyard or in the corridors. Women prisoners went to a separate courtyard with a fountain, where they could wash their clothes. Prisoners gathered at the foot of Bonbec Tower each evening to hear the guards read the names of those who would be brought before the Tribunal the next day. Those whose names were announced were traditionally given a meagerbanquet with other prisoners that night.[16]
Soon the Tribunal tried anyone who opposed Robespierre.Jacques Hébert,Danton,Camille Desmoulins, and many others were brought before the Tribunal, judged and executed. So many opponents of Robespierre were arrested that the Tribunal began trying them in groups. By July 1794 an average of thirty-eight persons a day were judged and guillotined. Gradually, however, opposition grew against Robespierre, who was accused of wishing to be a dictator.He was arrested on July 28, 1794, after trying unsuccessfully to shoot himself. He was taken to the infirmary of the Conciergerie, then, a few hours later, tried by the Tribunal, and executed on the Place de la Revolution. The chief of the Tribunal, Fouquier-Tinville, was arrested, and after nine months in prison in the Conciergerie, was also executed on May 9, 1795. The Revolutionary Tribunal was abolished on May 7, 1795, after having put to death 2,780 persons in 718 days.[16]
Following the Revolution, the Palace became the headquarters of the judicial system of France, but also continued its vocation as a prison. During theConsulate ofNapoleon Bonaparte, the rebelGeorges Cadoudal was imprisoned there until his execution in 1804. After Napoleon's downfall, one of his most famous generals, MarshalMichel Ney, was imprisoned there before his execution in 1815, as was Napoleon's nephew,Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the futureNapoleon III, after his failed attempt to overthrow KingLouis Philippe. The anarchistsGiuseppe Fieschi andFelice Orsini, who tried respectively to kill Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III, were both imprisoned there, as was another famous anarchist,Ravachol, who was executed in 1892.[17]
During the Revolution, the Sainte-Chapelle had been turned into a storage vault for legal documents, and half of the stained glass removed. Between 1837 and 1863, a major campaign was begun to restore the chapel to its medieval splendor. At the same time, the Conciergerie and Palace of Justice underwent major changes. Between 1812 and 1819, architectAntoine-Marie Peyre [fr] restored the vaulted ceiling of the old Salle des Gens d'Armes, and also, at the request of the restored KingLouis XVIII, built anexpiatory chapel where the cell ofMarie-Antoinette had been. Between 1820 and 1828, he built a new façade for the Conciergerie along the Seine between the Tour de l'Horloge and the Tour Bonbec. In 1836, a new entrance was to the Conciergerie was made between the Tour d'Argent and the Tour César.
A comprehensive plan for the remodeling of the Palais de la Cité was designed from 1835 by architectJean-Nicolas Huyot, who started its execution until his death in 1840. This was continued mainly byJoseph-Louis Duc assisted first by Etienne Theodore Dommey (1801-1872) and, from 1867, byHonoré Daumet who upon Duc's death in 1879 succeeded him as the complex's chief architect. The plan entailed the demolition of some of the remaining vestiges of the old palace, including what remained of the Logis du Roi and the Salle sur l'eau, and the construction of the new building for the Cour de Cassation.
Under EmperorNapoleon III, the western section was reconstructed between 1857 and 1868 byJoseph-Louis Duc andHonoré Daumet.[18] The exterior includes sculptural work byJean-Marie Bonnassieux. It was opened in October 1868 byBaron Haussmann, prefect of the Seine. It was awarded the Grand Prix de l'Empereur as the greatest work of art produced in France in the decade.[19]
In 1871, in the final days of theParis Commune, the Communards set the building on fire, destroying a large part of the interior. Restoration was undertaken by Joseph-Louis Duc. Duc also finished the Harlay façade, while architect Honoré Daumet completed the building of the Court of Appeals. After the death of Duc 1879, Honoré Daumet took over the project. The Palais de Justice was substantially completed in 1914, just before the beginning of the First World War in 1914, The final section to be finished being theTribunal Correctionel (criminal court) on the southern side.[20]
The Conciergerie was declared a national historical monument in 1862, and some rooms were opened to the public in 1914. It continued to function as a prison until 1934.[21]
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TheCour du Mai is the main open space of the palace. It was formerly accessible through a fortified gate and now borders theBoulevard du Palais [fr] from which it is separated from an ornate iron fence by Master Bigonnet (1787, repaired in 1877). The current façades of theCour du Mai date from the 1780s following the devastating fire of 1776. The main (western) front features a monumental stairway (the formergrands degrés orPerron du Roi) leading to a square-domed building decorated with fourTuscan columns topped by allegorical statues: from south to north,Abundance byPierre-François Berruer,Justice andPrudence byFélix Lecomte, andForce by Berruer. Above them is a royal coat of arms supported by two winged genies, by sculptorAugustin Pajou. The design of theCour du Mai, including that of the iron fence, was byPierre Desmaisons [fr] with the assistance ofJacques Denis Antoine andJoseph-Abel Couture [fr] especially for interiors. Its side wings were rebuilt in the same style during the 1840s.
To the immediate north of theCour du Mai, theBoulevard du Palais borders the former main wing of the royal residence of the 14th century, with theSalle des Gens d'Armes on the ground floor (now slightly below the Boulevard's level) and theSalle des Pas-Perdus (formerly theGrande Salle) on the first floor.
At the complex's northeastern corner stands the 47-meter tallTour de l'Horloge ("Clock Tower") built around 1353 under KingJohn II.[22]: 640 At the top of the tower was a bell, thetocsin du palais ("alarm bell of the palace"), which rang for several days to announce major dynastic events such as the death of kings and birth of firstborn royal sons, and also rang the signal of theSaint Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572; it was removed and melted down in 1792 and replaced in 1848. On the Boulevard's side it is decorated with the namesake monumental clock, which was the first public clock in Paris, made byHenri de Vic in 1370-1371. The clock was redecorated in 1585-1586 byGermain Pilon and restored several times since then, most heavy-handedly in 1849-1852 byArmand Toussaint following heavy damage during the French Revolution, and again in 1909, 1952, and most recently in 2012. It bears two monumental inscriptions inLatin: at the top,QVI DEDIT ANTE DVAS TRIPLICEM DABIT ILLE CORONAM ("He [God] Who already gave [KingHenry III] two crowns [of Poland in 1573 and France in 1574] will give [him] a [heavenly] third one"); at the bottom,MACHINA QVÆ BIS SEX TAM JVSTE DIVIDIT HORAS JVSTITIAM SERVARE MONET LEGES QVE TVERI ("This machine that so justly divides twelve hours teaches to maintain Justice and to watch over the laws").
To the south of theCour du Mai's fence, a plaque marks the former location of theChapelle Saint-Michel (Saint Michael's Chapel) which gave its name to the nearbyPont Saint-Michel and, across the Seine, thePlace Saint-Michel andBoulevard Saint-Michel, and was the headquarters of theOrder of Saint Michael from 1470 to 1555 or 1557, when it was transferred to theChâteau de Vincennes.
On the northern side facing theSeine, the building is framed by a succession of medieval towers and 19th-century façades:
Most of the Western front is a monumental composition designed from 1847 byJoseph-Louis Duc and Etienne Theodore Dommey for theCour d'assises, built from 1857 to 1868, then repaired after the 1871 fire and finally inaugurated in 1875. It facesPlace Dauphine, whose early-17th-century eastern side was demolished in 1874 to free up space in front of the new building. The style of its decoration is neo-Classical, but the overall design was inspired byAncient Egyptian architecture and specifically by the façade of theDendera Temple complex.[26] The monumental statues are, from north to south:Prudence andTruth byAuguste Dumont,Punishment andProtection byFrançois Jouffroy, andForce andEquity byJean-Louis Jaley. The stylized lions that guard the stairs and represent public force are byIsidore Bonheur (1866). On the façade's extremities are twobas-reliefmedallions of the great code creators, respectivelyNapoleon for theNapoleonic Code andJustinian I for theCode of Justinian.
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The southern façade is made of two distinct wings. The western wing was designed byÉmile Gilbert and his son-in-lawArthur-Stanislas Diet, and built between 1875 and 1880 on the location of theHotel du Bailliage ("Bailiwick Mansion") that had also been burnt down in 1871. The eastern wing is a separate building that was built from 1907 to 1914 as the last major phase of the complex's expansion, replacing demolished private houses on theQuai des Orfevres that were expropriated in 1904. Designed by architectAlbert Tournaire [fr], its western end features a picturesque tower under which stands a monumentalsundial with the 1913 sculptureTime and Justice byJean Antoine Injalbert, bearing the Latin inscriptionHORA FUGIT STAT JUS ("time flies, the law remains"). Further east on the façade are four monumental statues (1914):Truth byHenri-Édouard Lombard,Law by André Allard,Eloquence byRaoul Verlet, andClemency byJules Coutan. On the corner with theBoulevard du Palais stands a turret, with the street-level door bearing the monumental inscriptionGLADIUS LEGIS CUSTOS ("the sword guards the law").
The façade bears impacts from the time of theliberation of Paris in August 1944, from a prolonged stalemate between German forces positioned on theBoulevard du Palais andResistance fighters on the left bank.
TheSainte Chapelle was constructed by KingLous IX, later known as Saint Louis, between 1241 and 1248 to keep the holy relics of the Crucifixion of Christ obtained by Louis, including what was believed to be theCrown of Thorns. The lower level of the chapel served as the parish church for the residents of the palace. The upper level was used only by the king and royal family. The stained glass windows of the upper chapel are one of the most important monuments of Medieval art in Paris. The chapel was turned into a storage depot for court documents from the palace of Justice after the Revolution, but was carefully restored during the 19th century.
The two halls in the lower part of the Conciergerie, theSalle des Gardes (Hall of the Guards) and theSalle des Gens d'armes (Hall of the Men at Arms), along with the kitchens, are the only surviving rooms of the original Capetian palace. When they were built, the two halls were at street level, but over the centuries, as the island was built up to prevent floods, they were below the street. TheSalles des Gardes was built at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, as the ground floor of theGrand'Chambre, where the king conducted judicial hearings, and where, during the Revolution, the Revolutionary Tribunal met. It was connected with the hall above by a stairway in the southwest part of the hall, and by a second stairway in a tower which was demolished in the 19th century. It is one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in Paris. The hall is 22.8 meters long, 11.8 meters wide, and 6.9 meters high. The massive columns have decorative sculpture of combat of animals and narrative scenes. Two stairways on the north side of the hall lead up to the towers of Argent and Cesar where prison cells were located. During the Revolution, the apartment of the chief prosecutor of the Terror, Fouquier-Tinville, was on the upper floor, and his office was in the Tower of Cesar. TheSalle des Gardes was filled with prison cells until the mid-19th century, when the hall was restored to its original appearance.
TheSalle des Gens d'armes was the ground floor below the magnificentGrand'Salle, where the kings of France held banquets to welcome royal guests, and to celebrate special events, such as the visit ofCharles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1378, hosted byCharles V shortly before he moved out of the palace, and the marriage ofFrancis II withMary, Queen of Scots. The hall itself, with a high double-vaulted wooden roof, burned several times, most recently in fires started by the Paris Commune in May 1871. It was replaced by a new grand hall, theSalle des Pas Perdu, of the Palace of Justice. During the Middle Ages the lower floor was used largely as a restaurant and holding area for the large staff of the Royal household; it could serve as many as two thousand persons. A large stairway, now walled off, connected the lower floor with the Grand'Salle. The Salle is 63.3 meters long, 27.4 meters wide, and 8.5 meters high. Beginning in the 15th century the hall was divided into smaller rooms and prison cells.
The hall underwent many changes and restorations over the centuries. After a fire destroyed most of the upper hall in 1618, the architectSalomon de Brosse built a new hall, but made the error of not placing the new columns over the original columns in the lower level. This led in the 19th century to the collapse of part of the roof of the lower hall, which was rebuilt with additional columns. In the 19th century windows were also added on the north side looking out at the courtyard. The circular stairway in the northeast corner of the Salle, built in the medieval style, was constructed in the 19th century during the reign ofNapoleon III, who had briefly been held a prisoner himself in the building.[27]
The prison quarter of the Palace visible today dates to the late 18th century. After a fire in 1776, Lous XVI had a section of Conciergerie prison rebuilt; During the French Revolution it served as the principal prison for political prisoners, including Marie Antoinette, before their trials and execution. The prison was extensively rebuilt in the 19th century, and many famous rooms, such as the original cell of Marie Antoinette, disappeared. However, part of the prison was restored for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution in 1989 and can be seen by visitors.
TheRue de Paris was a section of theSalle des gardes which was separated by a grill from the rest of the hall during the 15th century. During the Revolution it was used as a common cell for prisoners when all the other cells were full. It took its name from "Monsieur Paris", the nickname for the executioner.
TheChapel of the Girondins is one chamber that has changed little since the Revolution. It was constructed after the 1776 fire on the site of medieval oratory of the Palace. In 1793 and 1794, when the prison was overcrowded, it was converted to prison cells. It took its name from theGirondins, a Revolutionary faction of deputies who opposed the more radicalMontagnards ofRobespierre. The Deputies were arrested and held a last "banquet" in the chapel the night before their execution.[28]
TheCour des Femmes was the courtyard where women prisoners, including Marie Antoinette, were allowed to walk, to wash their clothing in the fountain, or to eat at an outdoor table. The courtyard is little changed from the time of the Revolution.
The cell where Marie Antoinette passed two and half months before her trial and execution was turned into an expiatory chapel by King Louis XVIII after the restoration of the monarchy. The chapel occupies both the space of her original cell and the infirmary of the prison, where Robespierre was held after his suicide attempt and before his trial and execution.[29]
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![Cour du Mai in the late Middle Ages, reconstruction by Emmanuel Lansyer [fr], 1878](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLa_cour_du_Mai_du_Palais_de_la_Cit%25C3%25A9_au_Moyen-%25C3%25A2ge_(bgw18_1855).jpg)
![The Grande-Salle during the late Middle Ages, reconstruction by Sébastien Charles Giraud [fr], 1878](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLa_grand-salle_du_Palais_de_la_Cit%25C3%25A9_au_Moyen-%25C3%25A2ge_(bgw18_1851).jpg)
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