Sometimes while walking through the streets of the capital, a strange detail may catch your attention. The outline of a ghostly tower, a stone wall that stands out, or a remnant of a molding in an unexpected place. It is then possible that you have stumbled upon a vestige of the famous Philippe Auguste enclosure.
From the end of the 17th century, thePhilippe Auguste enclosure surrounded Paris. It is the second medieval enclosure known to historians but also the oldest among those whose layout is precisely known. Delimiting the limits of Paris at that time, it has left more vestiges than the 7 other known enclosures. If you are used to walk around the capital, you probably passed in front of some of them without knowing it!
So, where can we find the remains of thePhilippe Auguste enclosure? One of the most obvious ones is on the rue du Louvre around numbers 11 to 13, in the first arrondissement of Paris. Behind a gate you can see the outlines of a tower that has disappeared. On the Marais side, the longest visible portion of theenclosure can be seen in the Jardins-Saint-Paul sports ground. About sixty meters long, this part of the wall is well preserved and one can even see two towers. One is located on Rue des Jardins-Saint-Paul while the other, called the Montgomery Tower, is located at the corner of Rue Charlemagne.
In the Rose Garden -Joseph Migneret, not far from the famous Rue des Rosiers, the remains of a tower as well as its decoration can be seen. Another tower is also visible on the side of numbers 55-57 of the rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the courtyard of the Crédit Municipal de Paris. It is the Pierre Alvart Tower.
On the side of the Latin Quarter, one can not only discover some vestiges of the old wall of Paris, but also their impact on the Parisian landscape. If between the n°1-5 of the rue Clovis we can see well preserved remains of thePhilippe Auguste enclosure, some narrow buildings, built in the place or near the disappeared enclosure allow us to see its outlines. This is what you can see in front of the n°7 bis of the boulevard Saint-Germain or at the number 16 of the Rue Thouin. The location of other remains can moreover surprise you following the example of that which is in theMazarine carpark.
