The old port

Since the 13th century, the port of La Rochelle has occupied this site. It is likely that from the beginning it was fortified. The remaining towers date from the 14th and 15th centuries. They survived the destruction of the enclosure after the siege of 1628. On each side of the entrance, the Saint-Nicolas tower, the highest, and the Chain tower, and further on, linked to the latter by a curtain wall, the Lantern tower, both a lighthouse and a prison.