their necks shaved and their collars widened, and were taken in cartloads of ten or twelve prisoners to the Place de la Revolution (today's Place de la Concorde) for execution. In all, two thousand, seven hundred and eighty people were convicted and executed in this manner. Reconstructions of some of the cells can be seen today. The best-known victim of this process was Queen Marie-Antoinette, who was held at the Conciergerie for seventy-six days: from 2 August until 16 October 1793. She was confined to a small cell where she was watched day and night by two guards until her trial. The following day, she was taken on a cart to her execution, along a street lined with thirty thousand soldiers and crowds of jeering Parisians. After the Restoration of the monarchy, in 1816, her original cell was transformed into a chapel. Another cell nearby, very similar to her original cell, gives visitors an idea of her final days. The Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle was the royal chapel, located in the courtyard of the palace. It was created by Louis IX (later Saint Louis) to display sacred relics of the Crucifixion; particularly the Crown of Thorns that he purchased in 1239 from the Emperor of Constantinople. He later added what was believed to be a fragment of the true cross. Work was already underway by 1241, and it was consecrated in 1248. The Sainte-Chapelle measured high – not counting the spire – which ranked it with the major cathedrals of the time. By comparison, the nave of Notre Dame de Paris is high. The current spire is high, but it is not original. In fact, it is the fifth spire to adorn the Sainte-Chapelle. It was made in 1852–53, following the model of the 15th century spire. The 19th-century sculpture, inspired by medieval models, was cast in lead by Geoffrey-Dechaume. The great treasure of The Sainte-Chapelle is the 13th century stained glass windows; the glass was thicker than later windows, and consequently the colors were deeper and richer, with reds and blues predominant. There are more than thirteen hundred small panels of stained glass, each containing a biblical scene. More than two-thirds of the original stained glass survived, including fifteen Early Gothic windows from the 13th century and the later Gothic rose window from the 15th century. The upper portion of the chapel, where the relics were displayed, was reserved for