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The Monument
The Tour Saint-Nicolas stands on the south bank of the port, opposite the Tour http://www.callusdigital.org/ de la Chaîne. It was built on a pentagonal plane with engaged circular towers at three angles, a rectangular turret and a high square tower used as a keep.
The Tour Saint-Nicolas is the biggest one in La Rochelle and its role was to protect the port from dangers coming from the ocean. It also served as a mooring post for the heavy chain which linked it in the evening to its tower mate, the Tour de la Chaîne.
In 1372, the English sovereignty came to an end and the city threw open its doors to Charles V. Then, La Rochelle became a French royal port. In gratitude, the King granted important privileges to the city : hereditary ennoblement of aldermen and the mayor, fortifications, which made the city independent.
Those privileges found expression in the architecture. The Tour Saint-Nicolas for instance is a symbol for the nobility and sovereignty of the city. As a matter of fact, the urban keep can be compared with a princely keep. The very complex http://www.livsmedlet.com/ communication system inside the tower can be compared with the royal architecture of the tower of Vincennes. Therefore, the Tour Saint-Nicolas embodies the great power of La Rochelle, more than its defense capacities alone do. It was marked by conflicts of history, but was restored several times at the end of the 17th and the 19th centuries. The restoration of the inside started at the beginning of the 20th century.
The impressive 14th century Tour de la Chaîne acquired its name from the huge chain which was hung every night between this tower and the Tour Saint-Nicolas to close the port to ships.
Today, the chain is exhibited in a small square in front of the tower, for the small https://todaslascasasrurales.com/ building in which it used to be kept was torn down in the 19th century to widen the passageway.
The Tour de la Chaîne was also used to store gunpowder. In 1651, the top was blown off by an explosion. Since then, the battlements have been restored.
At the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the founding https://metsyhingle.com/ of Québec City, the Chaîne tower present an exhibition about the french migration to the “Nouvelle Franceâ€.
Erected in the 15th century the Tour de la Lanterne owes its name to the glazed turret, where a “big candle” was lit every night in order to guide ships.
The massive 6-metre thick walls contrast with the slender, octagonal, flamboyant gothic http://www.foxtrot-marine.com/ spire with crockets. It is one of the rare medieval lighthouses from that time in France.
Seven rooms are superposed inside the tower, which served as a prison, as revealed by the graffiti that prisoners made on the walls. Most of these inscriptions date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Lodging
See the listin gof the Hotels in La Rochelle
Practical information
Tour Saint-Nicolas
Vieux port
rue de l’Armide
17000 La Rochelle
Localisation
At the convergence of the roads from Nantes, Poitiers, Limoges and Bordeaux to the Ile de Ré (Ré Island)
Opening / Closing
Open
from April 1 to September 30 : 10 am to 6.30 pm
from October 1to May 1 : 10 am to 1 pm and 2.15 pm to 5.30 pm
during Jully and August, the Chaîn tower and the Saint-Nicolas tower are open to 10 pm.
Closed
on January 1, May 1 and December 25
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