Conciergerie
| The CONCIERGERIE
– the oldest part of the Palais de justice; it was first the Palace of
the Kings, replacing the original Roman Praetorium: then it became a
fortress, then a prison during the Revolution, from which Queen
Marie-Antoinette and two thousand others went to the guillotine. There
are four towers: the Tour de Cesar, the Tour d’Argent, the Tour Bonbec
(which means talkative, because in its torture-chambers people got
very talkative), and the Tour de l’Horloge, which houses the oldest
public clock in Paris. For some odd French reason, the clock is at the bottom of the tower. |
