Description
The Tour Saint-Jacques (Saint James's Tower) is a lone Flamboyant Gothic bell tower, 52 meters tall, rising from a small garden on Rue de Rivoli, a few steps from Place du Châtelet. It is all that is left of a medieval church torn down during the French Revolution.
Its lavish stone carving, from the early 16th century, was paid for by the wealthy butchers of the nearby Les Halles market. At its foot sits a statue of Blaise Pascal, a nod to his experiments on air pressure. Whoever climbs the roughly 300 steps on a guided visit gets a wide view over central Paris.
The church, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, welcomed pilgrims setting off for Santiago de Compostela, and the tower is now part of that route's UNESCO World Heritage listing. After the Revolution it was sold for its stones, on condition that the tower survive; in 1824 it was used to make lead shot.
Nicolas Flamel, a patron of the church whom legend remembers as an alchemist, was buried under the church floor.
Its lavish stone carving, from the early 16th century, was paid for by the wealthy butchers of the nearby Les Halles market. At its foot sits a statue of Blaise Pascal, a nod to his experiments on air pressure. Whoever climbs the roughly 300 steps on a guided visit gets a wide view over central Paris.
The church, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, welcomed pilgrims setting off for Santiago de Compostela, and the tower is now part of that route's UNESCO World Heritage listing. After the Revolution it was sold for its stones, on condition that the tower survive; in 1824 it was used to make lead shot.
Nicolas Flamel, a patron of the church whom legend remembers as an alchemist, was buried under the church floor.