seaport with Saint-Nicolas ( left ) and La Chaîne ( right ) towers, La Rochelle, France .Art Resource, New York
The entrance to the honest-to-god interface is defended by two massive 14th-century towers. The pentangular Saint-Nicolas Tower, the larger of the two, is an imposing fortress with crenel walls and a preserve. Opposite it stands the Tower de la Chaîne, indeed named because at night a boastfully chain was string between it and Saint-Nicolas Tower to close the port. In the fifteenth century a third gear tugboat, the Tower de la Lanterne, a round off base surmounted by an octangular steeple, was built as a beacon. other buildings of concern are the Gothic Porte de la Grosse-Horloge, the Renaissance Hôtel de Ville, and the 18th-century Hôtel de la Bourse. The sorrow des Merciers is typical of the old streets. Many of the 16th- and 17th-century houses, built over arcades, are decorated with gargoyles and foreign allegorical figures.
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La Rochelle developed in the twelfth century after the neighbor township of Châtelaillon was destroyed by the dukes of Aquitaine. During the Hundred Years ’ War ( 1337–1453 ) it changed hands a number of times but was last captured by the french in 1372. It became largely Protestant at the time of the Reformation and after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew ’ randomness Day ( 1572 ), in which many french Protestants ( Huguenots ) were killed ; many of the survivors took refuge there. Under Louis XIII ( reigned 1610–43 ), La Rochelle sided with the English, who had invaded Ré Island. Richelieu, the king ’ sulfur minister, besieged the township and built a huge sea wall to prevent english ships from relieving their allies. After 15 months ’ siege, the town capitulated, three-fourths of its citizens having starved to death. It slowly recovered its early prosperity but declined once more after 1685, when the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, depriving french Protestants of religious and civil autonomy, led to massive emigration. In the eighteenth century the loss of Canada by the french further reduced La Rochelle ’ s trade wind. In World War II, it was the localization of a german submarine base and suffered from Allied bombing. Pop. ( 1999 ) city, 76,584 ; urban area, 171,214 ; ( 2014 est. ) city, 74,998.
