Saint-Jacques Tower

Why go

The tower offers a sharp architectural contrast with the regular lines of nearby Rue de Rivoli. Its elaborate decoration makes more sense when you know it belonged to the church of the butchers working around Les Halles. Look at the carving and the raised base before continuing through the surrounding streets.

What to look for

• Flamboyant Gothic decoration covers the surviving church tower.
• A small park surrounds the tower's raised pedestal.
• A staircase on Rue Saint-Bon reveals the higher, older street level toward Rue de la Verrerie.

The full story

Built between 1509 and 1523, the tower belonged to Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, a church supported by the wholesale butchers of nearby Les Halles. Their wealth helps explain its unusually elaborate stone decoration. The dedication to Saint James also linked the church with pilgrims leaving Paris for the routes toward Santiago de Compostela. The church was demolished during the French Revolution, but the tower survived. Its separation from the building it served is only half the explanation for its present appearance. During the Second Empire, Théodore Ballu restored it and designed a small park around it. Work on Rue de Rivoli and Avenue Victoria lowered the surrounding ground. A pedestal preserved the tower's original elevation. The nearby steps up to Rue de la Verrerie make that nineteenth-century alteration visible at street level.

Useful to know

• Combine the exterior observation with a Rue de Rivoli walk rather than planning a church visit.
• Look northeast toward Rue Saint-Bon to understand the change in ground level.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.