Conciergerie

The Conciergerie was part of the royal palace on the Ile de la Cite before the court moved to the Louvre, and its Hall of the Men-at-Arms, built around 1302, is among the largest surviving medieval secular halls in Europe, a vaulted space of nearly two thousand square metres. It later became a prison, and during the Terror it held those awaiting the Revolutionary Tribunal next door; around twenty-seven hundred people passed from here to the guillotine, Marie Antoinette among them, and her cell is reconstructed. Prisoners were housed by what they could pay, from straw on the floor to a private room.

What you actually see

• The Hall of the Men-at-Arms - a vast early fourteenth-century vaulted hall.
• Marie Antoinette's cell - the reconstructed chamber where she was held.
• The prisoner tiers - accommodation graded by what inmates could pay.
• The tablet of names - the record of those sent from here to the guillotine.

When to go

Year-round; a combined ticket with Sainte-Chapelle next door saves money and both are done in a morning. The interior is cold. Booking online avoids the security queue.

Honest expectations

Much of the prison interior is reconstruction rather than original fabric. Presentation leans on tablets and augmented reality, which divides visitors. Security screening for the island complex can be slow.

Nearby

Sainte-Chapelle is adjacent; Notre-Dame lies east.