From Palais de la Cité to Ministry

The Palais de la Cité was the abode of the Paris Counts. Hugh Capeto established in the palace the Royal Council and other administration services. It was built by Robert II.
Saint Louis decided to construct the Saint Chapel between 1242 and 1248. In the north, the Saint Louis palace only had one building in the Seine shore called Water Saloon that was flanked by the Bombeé tower (or Bon-bec). Its name derives from the torture methods used in that place to oblige people to declare.
Philippe IV rebuilt the palace and also construct an enclosure that surrounded the Seine used to fortified the already existent towers called Silver Tower (in allusion to the royal treasure hidden there) and César Tower (in memory of the Romans). Vast saloons were built there in the North and South of the palace.             
The Guard Pavilion was built in 1310 used as an anteroom of the Great Saloon where the king held his solemn sessions of the Court and also where receptions were conceived.  
The Great Saloon was the seat of the Revolutionary Court since the 2nd of April of 1793 to the 31st of May of 1795 (nowadays it is the “lost steps saloon” from the Justice Palace of Paris). Foods were served on a black marble table (there are still some remains at the Ministry). 
This was a huge saloon supported by a row of pillars that divided it into two units of coffered vaults. Walls and pillars were decorated with statues that represented the kings of France.  
The soldiers pavilion was exceptional: 64 meters long and 27.5 meters wide with a height of 8.5 meters from the key. It was built between 1302 and 1313 by Enguerrand de Marigny. It was used as a house for more than 2.000 people that worked for the king.
In 1350 Juan II ordered to build the square pavilion in the Palais de la Cité, a place occupied by the king’s servants. The four estates located to the west of the soldiers pavilion were isolated by a wall. These estates were therefore advocated to prisoners that could not afford paid cells.
He also decided to build a tower in the northeast part of the palace called “Clock Tower” because the first public clock of the city was installed there. The clock was later replaced in 1585 by the one of Germain Pilon. Charles V decided to abandon the Palais de la Cité and moved to the Palais Saint-Pol, but he still remains his administration centre (Parliament, Congress Chamber, Commerce Chamber and Ministry). He also named a janitor. In the middle ages the Ministry was turned into a prison. From that moment on it was known as the Ministry jail.
Charles VII from France installed a Ministry where the Parliaments of Paris used to be and Louis XVI ordered to construct new buildings.          
During the revolution the Guard Pavilion was turned into a jail. It was divided into compartments and distributed into cells that due to the increasing amount of prisoners it had to be divided again to double its capacity.
The street name “Rue de Paris” was also joined to the prison and divided into small cells. The “pailleux” (booked cells for prisoners with no resources) were less comfortable than the ones for people who had economic resources.
The Big Patio Galley was the former king’s garden used by prisoners who had to appear in court. In the central hallway there were woman cells.
The Caretakers Garden was a strategic place for social life of prisoners. In this place there is still what was called “Côte des Douze”: a triangular enclosure separated by a parcel of woman’s garden. That showed the man’s dependency on each other that allow them to become closer.
The hallway was located in the main part of the jail. Prisoners were allowed to do whatever they wanted to in this hallway. The secretary’s office was the place where prisoners were registered as they arrived. It was also the cafeteria of the Justice Palace and nowadays there is a Ministry Museum.
In the bathroom prisoners were prepared for execution: they took away their personal objects, they cut their hair and they tied their hands to their backs. The small royal chapel called “Girondins chapel” already existed by the middle Ages. Tradition considers that 21 Girondins waited their deaths in the chapel the night of the 29th and 30th of October of 1793. The Woman Garden was surrounded by cells that had different level of comfort according to the possibilities of prisoners. Woman washed their clothes in a water font (still exists) and ate on stone made tables.

Maria Antoinette cell

The first cell of Maria Antoinette was built in the former gathering saloon from prisoners. It was quite humble, just a plank bed, a cane chair, two chairs, a table and a tiny window with a view of the woman’s garden. After a sailed try of invasion leaded by Alexander Gonsse de Rougeville, Maria Antoinette was taken to a second cell. A screen separated her from the guards that kept watch over her. Located next to the loyal chapel, Louis XVIII decided to close the cell with a wall and built a chapel. The west half was joined to the royal chapel by means of a square that it is said to be the place where Maximilien Robespierre spent his lasts moments of life.
In only two years, mainly after killings of September of 1792, more than 2,700 people sentenced to death spent their last minutes in the Ministry.

In the century XIX many well-known characters were imprison there like Georges Cadoudal, Michel Ney, the prince Napoleon Bonaparte, (future Napoleon III), and anarchists Felice Orsini y Ravachol.
The Ministry remained its function all along the XIX century. The monument lost its prison condition in the year 1914 and was later classified as historical monuments. Nowadays it is open to the public.