Tour Saint Jacques - Rue de Rivoli - Paris

Tour Saint Jacques, the belfry of Saint Jacques de la Boucherie

The Tour Saint Jacques marks the junction of Boulevard de Sébastopol and Rue de Rivoli.

It is also next to the busy Place du Châtelet and round the corner from the lively and popular Halles district.

The iconic Gothic Flamboyant belfry is all that remains of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, a church built in 1060 by the wealthy Guild of the Butchers of Paris and demolished at the Revolution.

Saint-Jacques de la Boucherie stood in the heart of the historical Paris. It was also the starting point for all French pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

A statue of Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, restored during the 19th century, still crowns the church's pinnacle. A commemorative slab was also affixed on one of the walls of the tower's base.

Statue of Blaise Pascal

The outbuildings and dwellings that surrounded the church were also pulled down; however, the bell tower built in the early 16th century to replace the original Romanesque tower, miraculously escaped demolition!

The architect Théodore Ballu restored it in the 19th century.

A statue of Blaise Pascal was placed in the porch to commemorate the barometric experiments the physicist carried out from the top of the tower in the mid 17th century.

The Tour Saint Jacques is a UNESCO World Heritage site; it's open to the public once a year, during the Journées du Patrimoine - Heritage Days in September.