The Palais de la Cité, located on the Île de la Cité in the Seine River in the centre of Paris, is a major historic building that was the residence of the Kings of France from the sixth century until the 14th century, and has been the center of the French justice system ever since, thus often referred to as the Palais de Justice. From the 14th century until the French Revolution, it was the headquarters of the Parlement of Paris. During the Revolution it served as a courthouse and prison, where Marie Antoinette and other prisoners were held and tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Since the early 19th century, it has been the seat of the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris, the Court of Appeal of Paris, and the Court of Cassation. The first of these moved to another Parisian location in 2018, while the other two jurisdictions remain located in the Palais de la Cité as of 2022.
View from the West, ca. mid-1410s, in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. From left to right, the Salle sur l'eau, Logis du Roi, and Sainte-Chapelle; upper sections of the still-standing northern front towers, gables of the Grande Salle, and 12th-century circular keep (demolished 1778) are visible behind.
A banquet in 1358 hosted by Charles V of France in the Grand'Salle for his uncle Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor by Jean Fouquet
The Grand'Salle of the Palace in the 16th century, by Androuet du Cerceau
Louis XIV arrives at the Palais de la Cité to preside over a session of the Parlement of Paris (1715)
Île de la Cité is an island in the river Seine in the center of Paris. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of the area governor for the Roman Empire. In 508, Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, established his palace on the island. In the 12th century, it became an important religious center, the home of Notre-Dame cathedral, and the royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, as well as the city hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu. It is also the site of the city's oldest surviving bridge, the Pont Neuf.
Île de la Cité, in the center of Paris (2014)
Île de la Cité (2009)
Image of Jupiter on the Pillar of the Boatmen (1st century AD), Cluny, Musée National du Moyen Age
Archeological crypt under the Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul II