Tour Saint-Jacques (, 'Saint James's Tower') is a monument located in the

4th arrondissement of Paris The 4th arrondissement of Paris (''IVe arrondissement'') is one of the twenty Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''quatrième''. Along with the 1 ...

, France, on the Rive Droite. This Flamboyant Gothic

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

at the intersection of the Rue de Rivoli with Rue Nicolas-Flamel is all that remains of the former 16th-century Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie ('Saint James of the Meat Market'), which was demolished in 1797, during the French Revolution, leaving only the tower. What remains of the destroyed church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie is now considered a national historic landmark.

History

The Way of St James

Plan de Paris vers 1550 St-Jacques de la boucherie

The tower's rich decoration reflects the wealth of its patrons, the wholesale

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...

s of the nearby

Les Halles Les Halles (; 'The Halls') was Paris' central fresh food market. It last operated on 12 January 1973 and was replaced by an underground shopping centre and a park. The unpopular modernist development was demolished yet again in 2010, and replac ...

market. The masons in charge were Jean de Felin, Julien Ménart and Jean de Revier. It was built in 1509 to 1523, during the reign of King Francis I. With a dedication to Saint James the Greater, the ancient church and its landmark tower welcomed pilgrims setting out on the road that led to

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

and headed for the Way of St James, which led to the major pilgrimage destination of

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

. A relic of the saint preserved in the church linked it the more strongly and in modern times occasioned its listing in 1998 as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

among the sites and structures marking the ''chemins de Compostelle'', the pilgrimage routes in France that led like tributaries of a great stream headed towards Santiago in the northwest of Spain.

19th century

The church, with the exception of the tower, was demolished in 1793; preservation of the tower was a condition of the contract by which the church was bought for the value of its building materials. In 1824 it was being used as a shot tower to make small shot. It was repurchased by the City of Paris in 1836 and declared a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' in 1862. A statue of the saint was installed on the top of the tower during the 19th century. During the Second Empire, the architect Théodore Ballu restored the tower, placing it on a pedestal and designing a small city park around it. This coincided with the construction of the Rue de Rivoli and Avenue Victoria nearby, requiring huge quantities of earth to be removed to ensure the Rue de Rivoli a smooth flat path. The pedestal allowed the tower to retain its original elevation: nowadays, the change in ground level can best be appreciated in Rue Saint-Bon, just northeast of the tower, where a staircase leads up to the original street level at the Rue de la Verrerie. A statue of

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (19June 162319August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. Pascal was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. His earliest ...

is located at the base of the tower, commemorating the experiments on

atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013. ...

, though it is debated whether they were performed here or at the church of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas. A meteorological laboratory is also installed at the top of the tower. The tower inspired

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

to write the play ''La tour Saint-Jacques-de-la-boucherie'' in 1856. Nicolas Flamel, reputedly an

alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

and a patron of the church, was buried under its floor.

Modern restoration

The tower was surrounded by scaffolding and obscured by sheeting for some years as surveyors investigated the condition of the stone. Recent findings show that most of the stone and its ornamentation originates from the late-medieval era of the tower's construction, and was not added by the 19th-century restorers. Unfortunately, the survey also indicates serious cracking. The top three quarters of sheeting were taken down in March 2008, revealing a renovated upper section of the tower. From October 2008 to February 2009, the scaffolds and sheeting were completely removed and the surrounding park's landscaping was being restored. Finally, on 18 April 2009, the park was re-opened to the public.Jean-François Lagneau, "La restauration de la tour Saint-Jacques", ''Monumental'' (Les Éditions du patrimoine, no semestriel 2), 2008

Gallery

Turgot map Paris KU 10.jpg, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie and its surroundings on the Turgot map of Paris (1736) Tour Saint-Jacques 2008.jpg, Saint-Jacques Tower as seen from the Conciergerie, with the "Victory Column" of Place du Châtelet in 2008 Tour saint-Jacques à Paris novembre 2007.JPG, Restoration of the Saint-Jacques Tower in November 2007 File:Tour Saint-Jacques au crépuscule.jpg, Saint-Jacques tower at dusk, 2015 Tour Saint-Jacques 070508 01.jpg, Pinnacle sculpture by Paul Chenillon

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1525 establishments in France 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Monuments and memorials in Paris Monuments historiques of Paris Roman Catholic churches completed in 1523 Roman Catholic churches in the 4th arrondissement of Paris Towers completed in the 16th century Towers in Paris World Heritage Sites in France Gothic architecture in Paris