Secure Paris attacks courtroom nestled within storied site

By ARNO PEDRAM and NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The November 2015 Paris attacks trial is taking place in the Palais de Justice, a national monument whose walls date back to the 13th century and King Louis IX. In the heart of Paris, on the same island that holds Notre Dame Cathedral and the city’s police headquarters, it has been a center of power for France for generations and was built on ancient Roman ruins. It also is home to Louis’ famed Gothic Sainte-Chapelle. The palace then hosted the Revolutionary Court during the Reign of Terror, and in 1793 famously tried Marie Antoinette before she was guillotined. Novelist Emile Zola also faced trial in the building during the Dreyfus affair at the end of the 19th century.