Saint-Lazare Prison

The high stone walls of the former Saint Lazare prison hold the corner of the rue de Chabrol and the rue du Faubourg Saint Denis. Originally a medieval leper house, the site transformed into a religious convent before becoming the notorious prison for women during the French Revolution. In the late eighteen hundreds, the writer Louise Michel spent time in these cells, writing poetry and organizing her fellow inmates while waiting for her trial and eventual exile to New Caledonia.