Grosse Horloge, La Rochelle, France

The Grosse Horloge of La Rochelle is a former city gate dating back to the original fortifications known as Guillaume X. It received a bell and clock in 1478, becoming the city's belfry, replacing the Mallevault gate.

Originally a gate in La Rochelle's fortified city, part of the early medieval fortifications, the Grosse-Horloge was built in the early 12th century during the construction of the first medieval enclosure. The gate featured two openings: a wider one for carts and a smaller one for pedestrians.

In 1478, an octagonal bell tower was added, topped with a campanile housing the clock bell. This upper part closely resembled the Cailhau gate (except for the central window). In 1672, the two openings were merged into a single arch to facilitate traffic.

In 1746, the upper part of the structure was demolished to make way for the current Louis XV-style cartouche flanked by scientific and military attributes.

Today, it remains one of the main passage points between the quays and the old town. For a few years, it also housed an archaeological museum related to the Templars of La Rochelle.

User Reviews

washfix1 (8 months ago)
Beautiful building, how they built these all those years ago amazing

Phillip Spencer (2 years ago)
Beautiful old clock tower and building. Well worth seeing.

sergio (3 years ago)
Ancient tower and tour in the ancient city. Very beautiful walk around. Near there are a lot of shops, particularly a good bakery.

Antoine M (5 years ago)
The original gateway with the door being listed as national monument in 1978. Standing from the south side looking at this gate is amazing with the statue of Duppré in front. The north side façade is far more elaborately decorated being the side towards the town it used to enclose. It's still one of the most spectacular passages between the quay side and the old city. There's a museum of sorts in the upper part of this tower that houses scientific and military paraphernalia. Absolutely worth visiting as it has the most stunning views of the old port and the quayside.

Vesta Borovskaya (6 years ago)
Beautiful and atmospheric point. Good for photoshoot any time. Meny cosy places around

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.

Grosse Horloge

Address

Details

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historical Gems of Costa Verde

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater