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Tour De La Lanterne

46 9'20 .9 "N 1 9'25 .4" W / 46.155806, -1.157056

Tower Lantern ( XV ^century ), along with the Tour Saint-Nicolas and Tour de la Chane , one of the three towers of the waterfront in La Rochelle. It is also known under the names Withers tour, tour and tour of the Priests of the Four Sergeants. It was classified a historic monument in 1879.

At a height of 55 meters, it consists of two parts. Its base is a cylinder 25 meters high and over 15 meters in diameter. It is topped by an octagonal spire with four of the eight sides are pierced with trefoil windows flamboyant style. Each rib is packed with hooks.

Several rooms stacked up inside the tower. There are many graffiti carved into the stone by British sailors, Spanish or Dutch, imprisoned in the tower between the ^seventeenth century and the ^nineteenth century.

An ordinance of the body of the city dating from 1209 already mentions the existence of a "Tower of the Chain", having no relation to current round of the string , but having the same function. Indeed, it then blocked the entrance to the early port of La Rochelle in the brook of Lafond.

Subsequently, it was called "Around the Withers' the name of the hoist that was used to disarm the vessels before they can enter the port. Captain tower was described as "dsarmeur aisles.

According to Claude Masse the new work began in 1445 , incorporated by lining the old tower. It was not completed until 23 years later ( 1468 ), with the personal funds of the then mayor Jean Mrichon. Originally it formed the southwest corner of the medieval tower and lantern was used as a beacon and bitter. It was at that time at the water's edge.

Preserved during the razing of the fortifications in 1629 , it was later incorporated into the new enclosure 1689. From 1900 to 1914, a restoration project on Just Lisch , then under the direction of Albert Ballu , restores its medieval appearance.

The various names of the tower

The oldest was around the withers. According to sources, the ships were disarmed on arrival. A machine at the Tour de la Lanterne allowed to "strangle" the cannon and shield them from the ships that could well enter the port without risk to the city.

In 1568 , to strengthen the walls, the churches are destroyed. Catholics fleeing outside the walls, but 13 priests were arrested and imprisoned in the tower. They will be slaughtered and thrown into the sea from the top of the tower the following weeks. The tour took the nickname round of Priests. Nickname that was reinforced after the slaying of four other priests from the crowd, 21 March 1798.

Finally, in 1822 , two of the protagonists of "Conspiracy of La Rochelle are imprisoned in the Tower before his execution in Paris with two others. The tower was the nickname of the Tower Four Sergeants