The now empty halls and cells of the Concièrgerie served as the principal administrative center and prison during the French Revolution. Death-by-beheading sentences were handed to 2,780 condemned souls here during the heyday of the Reign of Terror. Among those who passed through here before the final walk to the place de la Concorde (place de la Révolution at the time) to greet the guillotine were Marie-Antoinette, Robespierre, Charlotte Corday, Danton, and the poet André Chénier. The place still seems to exude the horror that was perpetrated within its grim walls. If you wish to be even more depressed, you can visit the cell where Marie-Antoinette spent her final days. In a nearby chapel is a small museum containing a guillotine blade, among other ghastly remembrances of the Reign of Terror.

Architecturally, the Concièrgerie's 14th-century Salle des Gens d'Armes and the adjoining dining halls and kitchens were once part of the royal household, and are excellent examples of early Gothic architecture. Today, these handsome rooms once the de facto antechamber to the guillotine are a favorite place for private parties and concerts, which gives you a sense of French joie de vivre.

Address: 1 quai de l'Horloge, 75001 Paris
Call: (33) 1.53.73.78.50
Fax: (33) 1.40.51.70.36