Saint-Jacques Tower

What it is

The Tour Saint-Jacques is the last surviving fragment of the church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, a late-Gothic parish church built between 1509 and 1523 for the guild of Paris butchers, whose market gave the church its name.

The Revolution's authorities sold the church as national property and it was demolished for its stone in 1797; the bell tower alone was spared and passed into city ownership. Standing 52 metres tall in the Flamboyant Gothic style, it is a rare freestanding Gothic tower with no church left attached to it.

A statue of the scientist Blaise Pascal sits at its base, commemorating the barometric-pressure experiments he ran from the tower's summit in 1648 to measure atmospheric pressure at height, one of the founding experiments of modern meteorology.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

What's inside

The tower carries a statue of Saint James the Great, the church's namesake and the patron of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, at its summit, along with the four evangelist symbols — an eagle, a lion, a bull and an angel — at the corners below.

A meteorological station was installed at the top in the 19th century, part of a network recording weather data across Paris, reflecting the same interest in atmospheric measurement that brought Pascal here two centuries earlier.

The surrounding square, Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques, was landscaped around the isolated tower in the 19th century after the rest of the church and its cemetery were cleared, and today gives the tower a green setting in the middle of a dense commercial quarter near Chatelet.

A modern statue at the square's edge marks the tower's role as a traditional starting point for pilgrims on the Via Turonensis, one of the historic French routes toward Santiago de Compostela, which is part of why the church was dedicated to Saint James in the first place.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

How long to spend

Ten minutes to see the tower and square from ground level; considerably longer — around an hour and a half — for a guided ascent to the summit, when one is running, since visits climb the spiral staircase in small timed groups.

The tower cannot be entered independently at any time; every interior visit runs as a guided group tour, which is also why ascent capacity is limited and books up on busy days.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

Season and crowds

For the exterior and square, any time of day; the tower is lit at night, which is when its Flamboyant Gothic stonework reads most dramatically against the dark.

Interior ascents to the summit have run seasonally, historically in the warmer months of the year, rather than year-round. Current-season dates and days are not recorded here — check the Centre des monuments nationaux, which manages the tower, before planning around an ascent.

Checked 2026-08-24

Tickets

The square and the exterior view are free and open at all times, with no ticket needed to see the tower from the street.

Guided ascents to the summit, when running, are paid and booked in advance through the Centre des monuments nationaux, the state body that manages the tower; current prices, exact seasonal dates and the booking route are not reproduced here, since the schedule changes from year to year — check the operator's own listing before planning a visit around going up.

Checked 2026-08-24

Getting there

On rue de Rivoli in the 4th arrondissement, at the edge of Chatelet, close to the Seine and the Hotel de Ville.

Metro lines 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14 and RER A, B and D all converge at Chatelet, a two-minute walk from the tower, making it one of the best-connected sights in central Paris.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

What to watch out for

The tower cannot be entered without a guided ascent booked through the Centre des monuments nationaux; there is no walk-in or self-guided visit, and turning up hoping to climb it without a booking will not work when ascents are running.

The staircase to the summit is narrow and spiral, typical of a 16th-century bell tower, and is unsuitable for anyone with mobility difficulties or significant fear of heights or enclosed spaces.

Checked 2026-08-24

Photography

The tower stands alone in its square with nothing else close enough to crowd the frame, which makes it one of the easier isolated Gothic subjects in central Paris to photograph cleanly from ground level.

It is illuminated after dark, and the lit stonework against the night sky, shot from across rue de Rivoli, is a stronger image than the same view in flat daylight.

Checked 2026-08-24

Where it is

• 1 hour

  2 min walk · Paris 4e Arrondissement

  Théâtre de la Ville

  • Must see · Heritage site
  • Art and culture venue
• 1 hour

  2 min walk · Paris 1er Arrondissement

  fontaine du Palmier

  • High · Heritage site
  • Art and culture venue
• 1 hour

  2 min walk · Paris 1er Arrondissement

  Le Zimmer

  • Notable
  • Restaurant or café

External links

• Official site
• View on Wikidata