The square tower
to the left in this block is the Tour de l'Horloge. Next, to the right,
come the two round towers of the Conciergerie, known respectively as the
Tour de Cesar and the Tour de Montgomery. The one beyond them, with
battlements, is the Tour d'Argent. It was in the Conciergerie that Marie
Antoinette, Robespierre, and many other victims of the Revolution were
imprisoned.
These medieval towers, much altered and modernized, are now almost all
that remains of the old Palace, which, till after the reign of Louis IX.
(St. Louis), formed the residence of the Kings of France. Charles VII.
gave it in 1431 to the Parlement or Supreme Court. Ruined by fires and
re-building, it now consists for the most part of masses of irregular
recent edifices. The main modern facade fronts the Boulevard du Palais.
Cross the bridge. The Tour de l'Horloge on your right, at the corner of
the Boulevard du Palais, contains the oldest public clock in France
(1370). The figures of Justice and Pity by its side were originally
designed by Germain Pilon, but are now replaced by copies.
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