Lantern Tower | |
---|---|
Native names | |
Priest tower | |
Location | La Rochelle, France |
Nearest city | La Rochelle |
Coordinates | 46°09′21″N01°09′25″W / 46.15583°N 1.15694°W |
Height | 180 feet (55 m) |
Founded | 1209 |
Original use | Protection of the entrance to the primitive port of La Rochelle |
Restored | 2015 |
Architectural style(s) | Medieval |
Governing body | Building managed by the CMN (Center des Monuments Nationaux) |
Owner | Government |
Website | la-rochelle |
The Lantern Tower (French : tour de la Lanterne) is one of the three medieval historic towers in La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes, France, which guarded the port at Aunis. The Lantern tower served as a Lighthouse and a prison throughout its history. It was also known by other names: Garrot tower, Priest tower, and Four Sergeant tower. In 1789 the French government declared it a Monument historique [1]
The original purpose of the tower was to watch ship traffic in the port. It also served as a lighthouse. In the 1500s the tower was used to imprison priests. [2] It was a multi-purpose building: used both as a lighthouse and a prison. The tower was used to watch the Aunis coastline during the middle ages; and it was used to guide ships into port. Throughout its history it was also used to house prisoners: first priests, then sailors, and finally prisoners from the Wars of the Vendée. [3]
Charente-Maritime is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kilometres.
La Rochelle is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With 78,535 inhabitants in 2021, La Rochelle is the most populated commune in the department and ranks fourth in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region after Bordeaux, the regional capital, Limoges and Poitiers.
Poitou-Charentes was an administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It is part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. It included the historical provinces of Angoumois, Aunis, Saintonge and Poitou.
Aunis is a historical province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Castrum Allionis (Châtelaillon) the historic capital which gives its name to the province.
This gallery of French coats of arms shows the coats of arms of the Provinces, Regions, and Departments of France and certain French cities. They are used to visually identify historical and present-day regions, as well as cities, within France.
Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
Ars-en-Ré is a commune on the Île de Ré in the western French department of Charente-Maritime, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Formerly called just Ars, the commune changed to its current name on 8 March 1962.
Andilly is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.
Angoulins is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.
Surgères is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France. It is the home of the Surgères 48 Hour Race.
La Tremblade is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.
Marans is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
The Île d'Yeu Lighthouse, sometimes called the Grand Phare or La Petite Foule, is a French lighthouse constructed on the Île d'Yeu in 1950. The current structure, is the third serving the site.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the largest administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes in a territorial reform. Nouvelle-Aquitaine has an area of 84,035.7 km2 (32,446.4 sq mi) – more than 1⁄7 of Metropolitan France – and has a population of 6,033,952 as of 2020. The new region was established on 1 January 2016, following the regional elections in December 2015.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of La Rochelle.
The Church of Saint Catherine is a parish church located in Loix, in the department of Charente-Maritime, the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes.
Saint Nicolas Tower (1384) along with the Lantern tower and the Chain tower, is one of the three medieval towers guarding the port in La Rochelle, France. In 1879 the French government classified it as a Monument historique (MH).
The Chain Tower (1384) along with the Lantern tower and the Saint Nicolas Tower, is one of the three medieval towers guarding the port in La Rochelle, France. It is called the Chain tower because an actual chain was stretched across the port entrance from this building. In 1879 the French government classified it as a Monument historique (MH).
The siege of Poitiers was a siege of the French city of Poitiers in summer 1569 as part of the French Wars of Religion. By that time the city was a Catholic stronghold faithful to Charles IX of France, though Jean Calvin had preached there in 1534 and it had taken the Protestant side from May to July 1563 before being recaptured by the Catholic Royalist party.
Miss Poitou-Charentes is a French beauty pageant which selects a representative for the Miss France national competition from the region of Poitou-Charentes. Women representing the region under various different titles have competed at Miss France since 1957, although the Miss Poitou-Charentes title was not used regularly until 2006.
Media related to Tour de la Lanterne at Wikimedia Commons