The tour du coin (or tour de la conférence) was one of the

corner tower Corner may refer to: People *Corner (surname) *House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect) Places *Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States *Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia *Corner River, a tributary of ...

s of the ancient

wall of Philippe Auguste The Wall of Philip Augustus is the oldest city walls of Paris, city wall of Paris (France) whose plan is accurately known. Partially integrated into buildings, more traces of it remain than of the later fortifications. History The wall was built ...

in Paris, built between 1190 and 1209.

The ''Tour du Coin'' of the wall of Philippe-Auguste

This is one of the four main towers of the wall that protected the city against attacks from the river Seine. It stood at the corner of the downstream side of the river (i.e. the west side of the wall) on the right bank, opposite to the

Tour de Nesle The Tour de Nesle () was one of the four large guard towers on the old city wall of Paris, constructed at the beginning of the 13th century by Philip II of France and demolished in 1665. The tower was situated on the left (south) bank of the S ...

on the left bank, approximately at the current location of the

Pont des Arts The Pont des Arts or Passerelle des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. It links the Institut de France and the central square (''cour carrée'') of the Palais du Louvre, (which had been termed the "Palais des Art ...

. At night, they put chains on ships installed in the middle of the river connecting the two towers to prevent incursions from the river, creating a

boom defence A boom or a chain (also boom defence, harbour chain, river chain, chain boom, boom chain or variants) is an obstacle strung across a navigable stretch of water to control or block navigation. In modern times they usually have civil uses, such as ...

. Upstream of the city and on each side of the river, the Tour Barbeau ( fr) (right bank) and the

Château de la Tournelle The Château de la Tournelle was a now-demolished castle on the left bank of the Seine in the 5th arrondissement of Paris on the quai de la Tournelle. The approximate site is now occupied by the La Tour d'Argent restaurant. After it were named th ...

(left bank) had the same goal. These four towers were 25 meters high and 10 m in diameter. The tour du coin look like the

tour de Nesle The Tour de Nesle () was one of the four large guard towers on the old city wall of Paris, constructed at the beginning of the 13th century by Philip II of France and demolished in 1665. The tower was situated on the left (south) bank of the S ...

, which is best known. Like on this one, there was, a cylindrical narrow tower used for the external staircase and higher than the top deck of the tower. At that time, the

Château du Louvre The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and t ...

stood outside the enclosure, strengthening it on the North-West side in direction of Normandy at that time occupied by the English.

Later developments

The wall of Charles V was built on the right bank from 1356 to 1383 outside the walls of Philippe Auguste. It enclosed the Louvre Castle. On the new wall, a new westernmost tower, the '' Tour du Bois'' ( fr) (''Tower of the wood'') was built. However, the "tour du coin" was kept. A wall was built as a "return" between the Tour du Bois and the tour du coin along the River. The tour du coin remained necessary to prevent incursions of boats with the chains drawn through the river up to the Tour de Nesle on the left bank. The main part of the tour du coin was demolished in 1531. The lowest part of the tower was destroyed only in 1719, with the reconstruction of the

Quai du Louvre A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

(Pier of Louvre).

References

{{Authority control History of Paris Fortifications of Paris Former buildings and structures in Paris Towers completed in the 13th century Fortified towers Louvre Palace Buildings and structures demolished in the 16th century