Lookout tower is located in the center of Calais, at the Place d'Armes.
High of 39 m, it dates certainly from the thirteenth century when the Count of Boulogne (which had authority over Calais) had built the fortifications of the city, although some theories suggest that the tower could be earlier, when Charlemagne asked building fire towers to prevent the Norman invasions in the ninth century.
Witness the sacrifice of the six bourgeois of the city during the siege of Calais in 1348, the tower suffered an earthquake in 1580, but it is raised and strengthened in 1606.
With a walkway, until the Revolution, it helps to watch for invaders and guide the firefighters when they intervene in the old town.
In the nineteenth century, it serves telegraph relay and then, in 1818, with a lighthouse, it helps to shipping and secures the entrance into the port until Spatial current lighthouse in 1848.
In the twentieth century, the tower resists the destruction caused by the two world wars. Protected as historic monuments, with bells sound the alarm once supposed, the building built of brick has become a symbol of the city.
It is not possible to enter the tower to the visit for security reasons. The monument jalonnera however a nice walk in the center of the city. Information +33 3 21 96 62 40.
