The Conciergerie in Paris: a monument symbolic of the French Revolution

The Conciergerie is a historic building on the Ile de la Cité in Paris. Since its construction in the 10th century, this monument has been the seat of the Palais de Justice and a prison in turn. It was here that Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned.

The Conciergerie is one of Paris's historic monuments. As early as the 11th century, the Palais de la Cité was equipped with a Conciergerie. The Conciergerie is the high place of power of the Concierge, the one who ensures order and police.

During its renovation, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux wished to show the traces of time on the building, and so we find Gothic-style medieval rooms and revolutionary rooms. The medieval rooms are located on the garden level, a few meters below the first floor. Here, we discover the daily life of the king's guard. The Salle des Gens d'Armes, built in 1302 under Philip the Fair, with its magnificent vaulted naves, is a vast refectory, while its kitchen features furniture from yesteryear, its Salle des Gardes where the king held "lits de justice", meetings of Parliament.

Next, we head upstairs to visit the revolutionary rooms, featuring 3 reconstructed cells, the clerk's office, responsible for registering prisoners, the Concierge's office, the Toilet Room, and Marie-Antoinette's chapel of expiation, built in 1815 in place of her cell. Alongside these historical traces, there are many explanations of the role of the Conciergerie during the Revolution and the Terror.

A visit to the Conciergerie brings home the harsh reality of Parisian life during the Revolution, when 4,000 people had to appear before a Revolutionary Tribunal before being released or guillotined, before the Terror and the media trials, including the guillotining of Robespierre, the politician who was the face of the Dictatorship of Salut Public, a sacrifice deemed necessary for the return to peace...

Since December 2016, the Conciergerie has been offering augmented reality reconstructions. Using a tablet, the Histopad, the dungeons reveal traces of the 4,000 revolutionary prisoners awaiting trial, the confessional still seems to whisper secrets revealed and Marie-Antoinette's expiatory chapel reveals the conditions of her detention.

In all, eight rooms, eight stories are told in the monument: the kitchens offer the spectacle of a royal banquet that really took place in 1378, the Salle des Gardes takes the form of a dungeon space from the 1780s, the Grand'Chambre recaptures the splendor of the seat of the Parliament of Paris, and we could almost follow Marie-Antoinette's path to her execution on October 16, 1793, from her cell to the Place de la Révolution, with great historical rigor, the augmented reality paintings having been validated by historians thanks to iconographic sources.

News from the monument :

Contes et Histoires 2025: shows and family tours at the Conciergerie in Paris
For the 2025 edition of Contes et Histoires, the Conciergerie is offering several fun tours for families during the Christmas holidays. Come along between December 20, 2025, and January 4, 2026, to take part in these festive events. [Read more]

La Conciergerie, the former royal residence and revolutionary prison on the Île de la Cité
Right in the heart of Paris, not far from Notre-Dame Cathedral or the Sainte-Chapelle with its magnificent stained glass windows, the Conciergerie is an imposing building with a rich history: this palace, which was also a prison, is one of our national monuments and a must-see if you want to find out more about the history of Paris. [Read more]

Contes et Histoires 2025: the full program for the national monuments of Paris and Île-de-France
For the Christmas holidays and to mark the latest edition of the national Contes et Histoires event, the national monuments of Paris and Île-de-France await you from December 20, 2025, to January 4, 2026, with a host of activities for young and old alike. An original idea for getting out and having fun while rediscovering France's historical heritage! [Read more]