La Conciergerie,

by Monique Delon

Les tours jumelles de la Conciergerie, en bord de Seine, figurent parmi les tableaux qui véhiculent l'image de Paris à travers le monde. Mais sait-on toujours que le palais de la Cité fut la première résidence parisienne des rois de France. Avant de devenir une prison, qualifiée d'antichambre de la mort pendant la Révolution, la Conciergerie faisait partie en effet, avec la Sainte-Chapelle voisine, du somptueux palais édifié par Philippe le Bel. Outre de splendides salles médiévales, classées parmi les chefs-d'ouvre du XIVe siècle, elle conserve, juxtaposés, les vestiges des grandes époques de son histoire.

Paperback

First published May 15, 2000

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is part of the wonderful 'Itineraries'-series: very small booklets with the essential information and a selection of illustrations. The Conciergerie in Paris was the medieval palais of the French kings up until the mid 14th Century, and it played a very special role in the French Revolution as the jail where some famous people spent there last days and hours before their execution.

[Sally Kilpatrick]

Read this the evening after we visited the Conciergerie, and it really added to what I'd seen that day. Seems everything in France is older than you first think it is. This book is heavy on info about the role the Conciergerie played in the French Revolution but doesn't skip the medieval origins of the building.