TOUR DE L’HORLOGE
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A superb tower that has dominated the historic center for over 500 years, featuring 2 hands for solar and lunar movements.
Not a postcard from here without seeing it enthroned, imperial and majestic, over the city. And for good reason... The emblematic monument of Auxerre, the Clock Tower has dominated the historic center for more than 500 years. It is impossible to pass by without admiring this superb monument decorated with its astronomical clock whose two hands indicate the solar and lunar movements. Built on the foundations of the Gallo-Roman city walls in the 12th century, it was used as a prison in the 14th century while continuing to serve as the city's clock. In 1825, a fire broke out during repair work on the spire and it collapsed. The tower was then partially rebuilt, at a lower cost. Its destruction was even considered. Fortunately, protected by its registration as a historical monument, it was finally rebuilt identically in 1890. Since then, in the heart of the pedestrian district, it marks with its superb architecture an admirably preserved city center. All the more so since its long and magnificent renovation completed in the summer of 2022. No doubt, the Clock Tower has never been so beautiful!
Note that you can still admire the bases of the ancient Gallo-Roman castrum in the tea room of the chocolate maker Gregory Ferret just next door. Finally, next to the tower, the covered passage used to be the house of the famous revolutionary bailiff Cadet Roussel, a great local figure of the 18th century. A commemorative plaque reminds us of this fact.
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