We once had dinner at a restaurant atop Centre Pompidou. The views of the City were amazing, but there was one thing in particular that caught my gaze and would not let it go. I asked our server what it was and he said, “Tour Saint Jacque.'“
In a city full of cool historical monuments, museums, and buildings, this one is quite honestly my favorite. So let’s learn a little something about it together.
🕍 The Tower That Outlived Its Church: Tour Saint-Jacques
If you ever find yourself wandering through the 4th arrondissement of Paris, you might stumble across a lone Gothic tower rising above the trees — no church, no plaza, just… a tower.
That’s Tour Saint-Jacques.
It feels a little out of place, right? That’s because it is. It’s the last surviving piece of a medieval church that once dominated the block — and its story is pure Paris.
Once, There Was a Church
The tower was built in the early 1500s as part of the Église Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie — “Saint James of the Butchers.” (Yes, it s…
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