Tour de la lanterne

I may have confused things yesterday when I wrote that the entrance to the port at La Rochelle is flanked by two towers. I showed two towers in the photo, but they aren't the ones I was referring to. I'll get back to those. This is the Tower of the Lantern, not far from the port entrance, on the ocean side and western extremity of the old city. A tower of one sort or another has stood on this site since the early thirteenth century, but the current configuration is more recent. Like the fifteenth century.

The ocean's to the left, the old city is behind the wall on the right.

This tower is connected to the others by a fortified rampart. We walked out on the ocean side and then back along the wall, on the city side. The interior of the tower is open to visitors, but we stayed outside since Tasha was with us.

Looking up. See the gargoyle, center left?

I read that the tower was renovated and cleaned a couple of years ago, explaining why the stone is such a brilliant white right now. The tower was part of the fortification of the old city and also served as a lighthouse, hence the name lanterne.