Palais de la Cité

The Palais de la Cité carries the marks of a fortress in its four heavy corner towers, most notably the square Clock Tower that juts over the quay. This site served as the residence of French kings from the tenth century until the mid-fourteenth. When King Charles the Fifth abandoned the palace for the Louvre, the building became the seat of the kingdom’s judicial power. The parliament of Paris held its sessions here until the French Revolution, when the palace held those awaiting the guillotine.