FIELD NOTES — Dr. Eleanor Hartley LOCATION: The Gate of Justice, Quarter of Justice The Gate of Justice is the only formal entrance to the Cité des Dames. It is a great stone arch of medieval proportions, flanked by caryatids that diverge from the Greek tradition: these are not women silently bearing the weight of a roof. These are women in the act of speech. One hand raised. Mouths open. Robes carved in the motion of forward movement. They carry the arch not on their heads but on their words. Above the arch, carved in limestone: "Nulle n'entre ici qui ne puisse nommer une femme oubliée." None enter here who cannot name a forgotten woman. The gate keeps no one out. The inscription is not a test but an invitation. To enter the Cité is to remember, and to remember is to build another stone into the city's walls. The gatehouse contains a register — a vast leather-bound ledger where every visitor writes the name of the woman they carried through the gate. Some pages are full. The book ha...
From the lore of Cité des Dames.