The Guillotine was used in several different areas of Paris from the Louvre to Place de la Concorde, Hotel de Ville and also at the Prison de la Grand Roquette. The prison is no longer there but if you pay attention you can still see where the guillotine was installed. When you are standing on the corner of rue de la Roquette and rue de la Croix-Faubin (Metro Voltaire or Philippe-Auguste) very discreetly set into the tarmac are four large flag stones that were the foundations for the Guillotine. The original site was at the Hotel de Ville but in 1832 was moved to this site. This site was 5 kms from the prison. the condemned would be marched from the prison to the guillotine. this site used to be known as the’abbaye de cinq pieres’ as originally there were 5 flagstones set into the ground to bear the weight. A total of 69 people were executed on this spot. When the prison was destroyed in 1900 the guillotine was moved to the ‘Prison de la Santé’ where it was last used on Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet on 28th November 1972.
Google Maps (Click on link)
Recent Comments