- Temple (Paris)
The Temple was a medieval
fortress inParis , located in what is now theIIIe arrondissement . It was built by theKnights Templar from the12th century , as their European headquarters. In the 13th century it replaced earlier works of the Vieille Temple (Old Temple) inLe Marais . Parts of the fortress were later used as aprison .The enclosure (called "enclos du Temple") originally featured a number of buildings important to the running of the order, and included a church and a massive turreted
keep known as Grosse Tour (great tower), and a smaller tower called Tour de César (Caesar's Tower). The fortress was destroyed in the 19th century; today the Temple Paris metro stop stands on the old location. The heavy doors of the Grosse Tour still exist and are kept atChâteau de Vincennes whose great keep (attributed to Raymond du Temple) is speculated to have been inspired by the nearby Templar fortress. [cite book|last=Lorentz|first=Phillipe|authorlink=|coauthors=Dany Sandron|title=Atlas de Paris au Moyen Âge|publisher=Parigramme|date=2006|location=Paris|pages=238 pp|isbn=2840964023]French Revolution
The Temple is notorious for having been the French royal family's jail at the time of the Revolution. The royals imprisoned at the Temple's tower were:
*King Louis XVI , who on21 January 1793 was taken from there to beguillotine d at thePlace de la Révolution ;
*Marie Antoinette , taken on1 August 1793 from the Temple's tower to theConciergerie , from where she eventually was also taken to the guillotine;
*Madame Élisabeth , who stayed for 21 months at the tower before being taken on9 May 1794 to the Conciergerie and guillotined the following day;
*Louis XVII , who reportedly died at the tower on8 June 1795 , at the age of ten.
* Princess Marie-Thérèse, who stayed at the tower for three years and four months before being sent into exile.In
1808 , the Temple having become a place ofpilgrimage for royalists,Napoleon ordered most of its demolition, which took two years. The rest of what was left of the Temple was ordered demolished byNapoleon III around 1860. Today this place is now a stop-over of theParis Metro ,thecarreau du temple and the Palais de Justice (Courthouse) of the third arrondissement.Trivia
In Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin and a young Lithuanian, Jagiello, are held prisoner at the Temple Prison during itsdeconstruction.
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