Attraction · Paris · Updated on 1 November 2026.
Saint-Jacques Tower is an attraction in Paris, France. This place has an audio tour of about 2 minutes, in English or Dutch. 14 of the 50 well-known points of interest nearby are within 1 km. Within 200 m you'll find a bench, a water point, a public toilet and a bike pump.
Audio tour · Saint-Jacques Tower
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You're standing at the Tour Saint-Jacques, the richly decorated Gothic tower on the corner of the Rue de Rivoli and the Rue Nicolas-Flamel. Look up: this is a tower without a church.
Read and hear the whole story in the Outdoor Pitstop app: check in at this place and it is yours (with Pro; new users are Pro for the first 4 weeks).
Source: OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons. In the app you add your own photo when you are there.
The Saint-Jacques Tower in Paris is an old tower in Gothic style, completed in 1523. It belonged to a church, but only the tower remains. Pilgrims began their journey to Santiago de Compostella from here. For that reason, the tower is on a heritage list as part of the pilgrimage routes. You will find it in the centre of Paris, on the Rue de Rivoli. The Centre Georges Pompidou, a museum, is 382 metres away. La Samaritaine is 500 metres away, and the Pont Neuf is 515 metres away.
The tower is richly decorated and stands on a plinth in the middle of a small park. The plinth is there because the ground around the tower was dug away for the Rue de Rivoli. You can see how high the street used to be in the Rue Saint-Bon, just north-east of the tower, where a staircase leads up to the old street level. Beneath the tower stands a statue of Blaise Pascal. At the top of the tower is a meteorological laboratory. The Rue Nicolas-Flamel beside the tower takes its name from Nicolas Flamel, who, according to legend, was an alchemist. In the little park you can sit for a while and look up at the decorations.
The tower belonged to the church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, the butchers' church. Wealthy wholesalers in meat from the Les Halles market had it built, starting in 1509. The church held a relic of the saint it was dedicated to. During that period of upheaval, the church was demolished. The buyer was allowed to use the stones, but the tower had to stay standing. It then got a surprising second life: in 1824 it was used to make shot, small lead balls. Later, the city of Paris bought the tower back.
You pay to visit the tower. Tickets for Saint-Jacques Tower are bought through the official website, toursaintjacques.fr. The same site also lists the current opening times, so check it before you set off. I cannot give details here about the accessibility of the tower. If you want to know whether the visit suits you, for example if you have difficulty walking, please also check the website. You can see the small park around the tower separately from a visit to the tower itself, as described earlier.
A public toilet is 40 metres from the Saint-Jacques Tower, at Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques. This toilet is free and wheelchair accessible. There are 21 public toilets within 500 metres. Drinking water is 38 metres away, also at Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques, and there are 17 water points within 500 metres. The nearest bench is 15 metres away, on the same square. There are 162 benches within 500 metres, so you will quickly find a place to rest. For your bike, the nearest bike pump is 198 metres away, on Boulevard de Sébastopol. There are 2 bike pumps within 500 metres.
From the tower, you can continue on through the centre of Paris. Besides the sights you already know, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is 564 metres away, and the Louvre Museum in Paris is 972 metres away, while the Museum of Arts et Métiers in Paris lies 1,019 metres away. Both of these are museums. At all of these places, as well as the Museum Centre Pompidou, La Samaritaine and the Pont Neuf, you will find an audio story in the Outdoor Pitstop app. This lets you learn more about what you are seeing as you walk. The audio story about the Saint-Jacques Tower itself lasts 2 minutes. You can listen to it on the spot in the app, for example while you are standing in the small park beside the tower. After that, you can continue your walk towards the river and listen to the other stories along the way.
The nearest pitstop of each kind within 1 km, as the crow flies. No honesty box within 1 km.
50 well-known points of interest nearby, those with an audio tour first. 14 of the 50 well-known points of interest nearby are within 1 km.
Hear the story of Centre Pompidou on the spot with the app
The 10 nearest points of interest with a story, within 2 km.
Fontaine des InnocentsMonument · 300 m away
ConciergerieMuseum · 310 m away
Hôtel de VilleAttraction · 320 m away
Palace of JusticeAttraction · 410 m away
Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporainMuseum · 910 m away
The Cluny MuseumMuseum · 910 m away
Musée Cognacq-JayMuseum · 930 m away
Louvre MuseumMuseum · 970 m away
Musée national Picasso-ParisMuseum · 990 m away
Carnavalet MuseumMuseum · 1 km awayThe nearest public toilet is 40 metres away, at Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques. It is free and wheelchair accessible.
Yes, the nearest bench is 15 metres away, at Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques. There are 162 benches within 500 metres.
The nearest water point is 38 metres away, at Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques. There are 17 water points within 500 metres.
Yes, access to Saint-Jacques Tower is paid. More information is available on the official website, toursaintjacques.fr.
Saint-Jacques Tower was built between 1509 and 1523. It is a tower that remained after the demolished church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie.
The Centre Georges Pompidou is closest, at 382 metres. La Samaritaine and the Pont Neuf are both about 500 metres away.
More well-known points of interest nearby
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