Visitor’s Guide To La Conciergerie, A Paris Hidden Gem

Here’s my guide for exploring the Conciergerie in Paris. This medieval fortress stands proudly by the Seine, its turrets creating an imposing presence that captures attention.

However, the Conciergerie is more than just an architectural marvel. Step inside and delve into its enigmatic history. This impressive palace, with its UNESCO-listed grand hall and intricate turrets, holds secrets from centuries past.

the Conciergerie, stretched along  the Seine River, is a must see hidden gem in Paris
the Conciergie, a landmark in Paris for history buffs

During the French Revolution, the Conciergerie played a significant role as a major detention center. It became notorious as the final prison of Marie Antoinette, adding to its historical intrigue.

Prepare to be transported back in time as you explore the halls that once held prisoners and walk in the footsteps of those who shaped France’s turbulent past.

But the Conciergerie is usually overlooked by tourists who beeline next door to more famous Sainte-Chapelle. Indeed, I was told the Conciergerie was “just a gloomy barren place” with a vicious history.

But here’s my advice. If you’re a history buff, don’t let anyone dissuade you from visiting this less touristy hidden gem in Paris. It’s well worth a visit.

>>> Click here to book a skip the line Conciergerie ticket

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The Conciergerie hides a scandalous past full of murder and mayhem. Personally, I like a vibe of darkness, medieval gloom, and French Revolution gone awry when taking my geographical cures.

Geographical cures can’t all be sunshine, beaches, and unicorns. Not when there’s Gothic architecture to behold and the French Revolution to re-live. I would take an ancient building with pointy arches over a beach most days anyway.

Besides, it was winter in Paris when I cast my eyes on the Conciergerie. There was no sunshine to be had. It was a dark day in the City of Light. As the rain droned on, I felt like I was in Caillebotte’s famous painting, Paris Street, Rainy Day.

Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day, 1877
Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day, 1877

The Conciergerie’s gloom mirrored the typical gloom of the ungodly gloomy month of February. And, that day, the mighty fortress provided respite from the driving rain that had soaked Paris’ cobblestone streets. My point is that it was the perfect day to visit a venue redolent of crime and death.

A Short History Of La Conciergerie

The Conciergerie has had myriad incarnations. It’s morphed from a medieval palace to a torture prison to a notorious guillotine way station to a public museum.

The Conciergerie was built in the 6th century. It was the residence of Clovis, the first King of France. Today’s version of the Conciergerie dates to 1200, when the building was formally known as the the Palais de la Cité.

Conciergerie on the Seine River at night
Conciergerie on the Seine River at night

The French kings and queens abandoned the gloomy palace in the 14th century and decamped for brighter digs.

They took up residence in the Louvre, Chateau Vincennes, and Versailles. When King Charles V, the last royal resident there, moved out for good, he appointed the first “Concierge” and renamed the building La Conciergerie.

The Concierge was charged with keeping order, overseeing the police, and supervising prisons. The Conciergerie was used as a seat of parliament.

Part of the Conciergerie, The Bonbec Tower, was converted into a prison. The torture there was so insidious and resulting misery so loud that the prison tower was graphically nicknamed “The Babbler.”

pointy towers of the Conciergerie, an underrated hidden gem in Paris
pointy towers of the Conciergerie

Then along came the fast and furious French Revolution. Enlightenment ideas had spread and stoked a revolutionary fervor in the Latin Quarter. The monarchy’s proposed new taxes caused widespread resentment and were the last straw.

The people wanted equality. And bread. On July 14, 1789, rabid rioters stormed the Bastille, and the French Revolution began with a bang.

After toppling King Louis XIV, there was a tiny period of relative harmony. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was enacted. Still, some architects of the revolution, like Robespierre, Desmoulins, and Danton, were not satisfied.

the statue of Georges-Jacques Danton, the revolutionary leader and orator, in the Odeon area of Paris
the statue of Georges-Jacques Danto

These extreme Jacobins wanted the Ancien Régime utterly eradicated. They prevailed, and the glorious French Revolution transmogrified into a dark bloody event.

In 1792, revolutionary forces captured and arrested King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette as they attempted to flee the country. Monarchy was abolished. The king and queen were charged with treason and thrown into the Conciergerie.

READ: Guide To Marie Antoinette Sites in Paris

Then came 1793 and 10 months of utter hell that would live in infamy. Led by Robespierre, the radicalized revolutionaries unleashed the infamous violence known as the Reign of Terror. Terror became “the order of the day.”

an actual guillotine on display at the Conciergerie
an actual guillotine on display at the Conciergerie

“Enemies of the people” were imprisoned without trial and duly “sentenced.” The verdict was either innocent or death, no murky middle ground. Under the Law of Suspects, citizens could be classified as an “enemy” based on the slightest hint of opposition.

Sometimes the revolutionary leaders accused people they didn’t like or wanted out of their way. Evidence was not a valued legal concept at the time.

The Conciergerie became the “antechamber of the guillotine,” the last stop before people were marched to the guillotine at the Place de la Concorde and decapitated.

In total, up to 40,000 people were killed before there was a reactionary blow back and more moderate forces prevailed. Even Robespierre got a taste of his own medicine and was hoisted on his own guillotine-petard.

Gothic exterior of the Conciergerie on the River Seine
Gothic exterior of the Conciergerie on the Seine River

Guide To La Conciergerie, What To See

1. The Exterior Facade

The medieval facade of the Conciergerie is best seen from the Right Bank.

The building includes four stately Gothic towers: the Bonbec Tower, the Silver Tower, the Caesar tower, and the Horlage Tower.

The oldest tower, the Bonbec Tower, was infamous for torture, as described above. The Silver Tower was the royal treasury. The Caesar Tower was named in honor of the Roman Emperors and the historic Roman presence in Paris.

the famous horloge, or clock, on the facade of the Conciergerie
the famous horloge, or clock, on the facade of the Conciergerie
Detail of the antique clock on the Conciergerie building in the form of a gilded figure with the attributes of justice with a sword and scales.
detail of the antique clock on the Conciergerie — a gilded figure symbolizing justice

The Horlage Tower was built between 1530-33 and is over 150 feet tall.

The tower showcases a beautiful clock, which Charles V conceived as Paris’ first public clock. It was installed in 1535 and gilded in 1585.

The clock was severely damaged during the French Revolution. But it was restored by the clockmaker Pierre-Michel Lepaute in 1849. It still chimes every hour on the hour, and keeps time for French citizens.

the Salon des gens d’armes in the Conciergerie
the Salon des gens d’armes in the Conciergerie

Once inside the Conciergerie, you’ll experience one of Europe’s finest examples of secular Gothic architecture. It’s an easy one way circuit.

2. Hall of Soldiers

You begin in the great Hall of Soldiers, the Salon des gens d’armes, declared a UNESCO site in 2006.

The hall was built between 1302-13 by Enguerrand de Marigny. It’s a massive four aisled room with an impressive vaulted ceiling and four large fireplaces. It’s 210 feet long with 28 foot ceilings.

It’s the oldest surviving medieval hall in Europe. You’ll feel like you’re standing in a Gothic palace.

the spiral staircase in the Hall of Soldiers
the spiral staircase in the Hall of Soldiers

This was the barren place I was advised to “skip” …

I loved the medieval eeriness. It was deadly quiet, even a footfall broke the silence. The desolate setting seemed suited to a gloomy day and a gloomy (but fascinating) historical topic. You can feel history pouring from the walls.

During the Reign of Terror, prisoners were huddled en masse in the great hall. They were interrogated, tried, and then escorted to prison down the “Rue de Paris,” the walkway of the executioner, by “Monsieur de Paris,” the executioner himself.

the "Rue de Paris" or walkway of the executioner in the Conciergerie
the “Rue de Paris” or walkway of the executioner in the Conciergerie

There are small rooms on the sides, which have displays and convey what life was like in the prison. There is also a video on the history of the place.

3. Guards Room

You can visit the Guards Room, the Office of the Keeper, the kitchens, and the Toilette. The Guard’s Room was an antechamber where the King held meetings with his council and dispensed justice. It was built in the early 14th century during the reign of Philippe IV.

The hall is supported by stout pillars with interesting capitols. They supposedly depicting the famous love story of Abelard and Heloise, who are buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

The Toilette was where the prisoners had their hair shaved before heading to their grisly death.

the Guards Room in the Conciergerie
the Guards Room in the Conciergerie

4. Memorial Room

Upstairs, there is a memorial room that honors the citizens murdered via the guillotine.

Robespierre is on the list. So is Charlote Corday who stabbed another radical Jacobin, Jean-Paul Marat, in his bathtub.

She said: “I killed one man to save 100,000.” Even Danton was later guillotined for questioning the scope and extreme violence of the Terror.

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793, an iconic image of the French Revolution

5. Prison Cells

You can see several prison cells, some with creepy life size mannequins of incarcerated men. The dank dungeons are a stark contrast to the beautiful architecture.

The prisoners’ quality of life depended on their personal wealth and whims of their jailers. Only celebrity prisoners got their own cells. Middle class inmates were put in “pistoles” with a simple bed and table.

The poor were stuffed into a single cell with straw floors. The cramped cells were infested with rats, and the stench of urine permeated every room — a gruesome existence indeed.

a grim prison cell in the Conciergerie
a grim prison cell in the Conciergerie

6. Marie Antoinette Exhibit

Downstairs, there’s an exhibit featuring Marie Antoinette, the Conciergerie’s most famous prisoner. It’s decidedly unsatisfying and not “her cell.”

Marie Antoinette was imprisoned in the Conciergerie for two months in 1793 during the Reign of Terror.

It’s a kitschy memorial, a reconstructed staging of her cell with her posed in a long black veil. It is not the real deal. The actual cell was demolished and is now an expiatory chapel, so it’s been altered as well.

a reconstruction and staging of Marie Antoinette's cell
a kitschy reconstruction and staging of Marie Antoinette’s cell

I found this bait and switch confounding, and perhaps a touch theme park-ish. Victor Hugo called it “respectful vandalism,” since we are not, in fact, seeing what the queen saw and experienced.

Shouldn’t the actual cell have been left intact and exhibited with historical accuracy? I felt like the exhibit (and chapel) were a sad bit of counter-revolutionary propaganda, designed to rehabilitate the image of the despised queen.

Even if she never said “let them eat cake,” she was an undeniable example of overweening royal decadence.

The accompanying signage confirmed my suspicions. Marie Antoinette is described as “brilliant” and the signs don’t even explain the reason for her arrest and death. Quelle fraude!

Rather annoyed, I carried on to the next chapel.

Chapel of the Girondins in the Conciergerie
Chapel of the Girondins in the Conciergerie

7. Chapel of the Girdondins

The Chapel of the Girondins is dedicated to the 21 deputies of the Girondin party.

The Girondins were moderate revolutionaries who became victims of the overzealous Jacobins and were sentenced to death for the sin of not being liberal enough.

The chapel commemorates a feast the Girondis held the night before their execution on October 30, 1793. Legend holds that the Girondins sang the Marseillaise, the national anthem of France, on the way to the guillotine.

the "Corner of Twelve" in the Conciergerie
the “Corner of Twelve” in the Conciergerie

8. Corner of the Twelve

Passing through the chapels, one comes to “The Women’s Courtyard,” where prisoners washed their clothes and ate. One corner is known as the “Corner of the Twelve” or “Corner of last goodbyes.” This was where condemned prisoners waited by the dozen to be carted off to the guillotine.

Despite its practically intact medieval appearance, the Conciergerie was extensively renovated in the 19th century.

In 1914, the Conciergerie was classified as a national historic monument. It’s been open to the public ever since. Much of the Conciergerie is still used for the Paris Law Courts.

Whew, even though I willingly embraced the gloom, I felt like there was nothing left of me after my visit to the Conciergerie.

Saint-Chapelle in Paris France
stained glass windows in Saint-Chapelle

If you have had enough gloom and doom, you’re in luck. The Conciergerie is connected to one of the most truly beautiful colorful buildings in all of Paris: the incomparable Sainte Chapelle.

Built by Louis XIV in the 13th century, the royal chapel is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture and stained glass. You can go from gloom to glorious in an instant.

Click here to book a ticket to Sainte-Chapelle. To save a few euros, you can also buy a skip the line combined ticket.

Practical Guide & Tips For The Conciergerie:

Address: 2 boulevard du Palais 75001 Paris

Entry fee: 11.50 € with a histopad included. Click here to book a ticket.

Hours: Open daily, 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

Metro: line 1, station Châtelet; line 4, stations Saint-Michel or Cité; lines 7, 11 and 14, station Châtelet

the Conciergerie, a hidden gem in Paris for history buffs
view of the Conciergerie from Pont Neuf

I hope you’ve enjoyed my guide to the Conciergerie. You may enjoy these other Paris travel guides and resources:

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