Sunday, May 23, 2010

Conciergerie and The Pantheon

Hi I'm back with another part of my Paris vacation! This time it will be about the Conciergerie and The Pantheon.

Conciergerie

This was very interesting because it served as the Residence of the Kings of France, then became the Palace of Justice and Prison. During the French Revolution, many suspects were arrested because they were believed to be enemies of the Revolution... including Queen Marie Antoinette. We took a tour of the prison and tried to imagine how it was like walking through the halls during that time.

This is the front of the building where the Conciergerie is part of. I do not know what it is used for now but I know people do work there.

This is called The Hall of Men-at-Arms once entering the Conciergerie. The arches are lovely...

Cool stairs but we weren't allowed to use it.

Marie Antoinette's Chapel which was built on where her prison cell was.

The Women's Courtyard where prisoners used to wait here to board carts headed to executions.

The Pantheon

This was a Christian basilica and is now the temple of the nation. Many great men and women's remains are buried here including Saint Genevieve, Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie. The architecture is quite stunning here.

It was too difficult to take a picture of the dome but this is still pretty.

Picture of the dome from the inside.

Foucault's pendulum showing the rotation of the earth. This showed how the people had more access to scientific knowledge.

The National Convention showing Marianne surrounded by parliament and soldiers from the year II.

Ok sorry for the picture spam. I had to narrow some pictures down and these were it. All the historical info were from those pamphlets from each of these historical monuments. I learned a lot actually. I hope you did too! Good night!

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