Marie Antoinette: From Vienna to the Conciergerie

Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna was born on 2 November 1755 at the Hofburg Palace, the youngest daughter and 15th child of Empress Maria Theresa. The Hofburg was the Habsburgs' imperial winter residence, with Schönbrunn as the summer one. In 1769 she was betrothed to Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France, to strengthen the Franco–Austrian alliance.

Советы для посещения: Parts of the Hofburg complex are open to the public.

The young archduchess spent her formative years between the Hofburg and Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs' summer residence. On 13 October 1762, aged seven, she met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart there, two months her junior and already a child prodigy. Schönbrunn is a 1,441-room Baroque palace in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna, and a major tourist attraction.

Советы для посещения: Palace and gardens are open to visitors.

On arriving in France she adopted the French form of her name, Marie Antoinette. The ceremonial wedding took place on 16 May 1770 in the Palace of Versailles, and the marriage went unconsummated for seven years, which plagued the couple's reputations. Nineteen years later, on 6 October 1789, she and Louis XVI stood with the Marquis de Lafayette on the king's bedchamber balcony, looking down on a hostile crowd in the courtyard. Shortly afterwards the king was forced to return to Paris.

Советы для посещения: The palace and its grounds are open to visitors.

On 24 May 1774, two weeks after Louis XV died, the new king gave his wife the Petit Trianon, a small château on the Versailles grounds that Louis XV had built for Madame de Pompadour. It was the first time a Queen of France owned a château. She stayed there in defiance of protocol: "At Trianon, I have no court, I live there as a private person." Men were invited, but neither they nor the king slept in the house. It can be visited in the Versailles estate.

Советы для посещения: The Petit Trianon lies in the grounds of Versailles, a walk from the main palace.

In the summer of 1793 she was moved from the Temple to a cell in the Conciergerie as 'Prisoner nº 280'. She is recorded as saying: "No! Nothing now can hurt me." She was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on 14 October. Her cell was destroyed, and in 1815 a Memorial Chapel was built on the site, lit by a single stained glass window. The Conciergerie is a historic monument on the Île de la Cité, a former courthouse and prison.

Советы для посещения: The Memorial Chapel on the site of her cell is part of the Conciergerie visit.

On 16 October 1793 she was taken in an open cart from the Conciergerie, a journey that took an hour, to the guillotine in the square then called the Place de la Révolution. She was executed at 12:15 pm. Her last words are recorded as "Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose", after accidentally stepping on her executioner's shoe. The square took its present name, Concorde, in 1795 as a gesture of reconciliation. It is the largest square in Paris, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.

Советы для посещения: A public square, open at any time.