Tour Saint-Jacques, Paris

This delightfully eerie tower is all that remains of the 16th-century church, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie. The tower and the church (Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie) were built between 1509 and  1523 when the majority of its patrons were the wealthy butchers of nearby Les Halles, from which it draws its name. The tower now stands on a pedestal in a little park arranged by Theodor Ballu.

The church once welcomed weary travellers on the Way of St. James, the historic pilgrimage path connecting all of Europe to the shrine of the apostle St. James in Spain, and it is still an important check-point on the route through France.

A relic of St. James's is preserved in the church in honour of this heritage, and Nicolas Flamel, the famous 14th-century alchemist, is buried under the floor. At least that's what the records say, as there are rumours that he managed to obtain immortality after producing the magical relic, the Philosopher's Stone, and he still lives to this day.

The church was knocked down during the French Revolution, but the tower was bought by the City of Paris as a historic monument in the 19th-century, and a statue of St. James was placed on top.