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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Tour Florentine de Buire, located in Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region, was built between 1920 and 1921 as a switch post for the Hirson Yard, then second largest in France after Paris. Designed by architect Gustave Umbdenstock and engineer Raoul Dautry for the Northern Railway Company, its 45.76-metre reinforced concrete structure is inspired by local belfries, with an Art Deco brick and ceramic decor. It had six floors dedicated to technical functions (relay, switch control) and four monumental clocks at its top.

Disused after the 1944 bombings that damaged the site, the tower was symbolically bought by the town of Buire in 1995, the year of its classification as a historical monument. Its name "Florentine" would evoke either the constructions of Florence or the origin of the entrepreneur who built a tower similar to Lens. Of the seven towers of this type built by the Compagnie du Nord (Lille, Lens, Bethune, etc.), only those of Buire and Leval remain today.

The tower, which has been a communal property since its acquisition to a seed mill, embodies the railway heritage of the region. A project to convert to tourist accommodation, including a panoramic lounge on the top floor, was selected in 2016 by the community of communes of the Pays des Trois Rivières. Estimated at EUR 2 million, however, this project depends on 70% public funding, highlighting the challenges of preserving and valuing this industrial heritage.

Ranked thanks to the initiative of Marcel Bouleau, former deputy mayor, the Tour Florentine remains a symbol of local railway culture. Its hybrid architecture, combining concrete modernity and regional references, bears witness to the golden age of yard stations in the early 20th century, when Buire-Hirson played a key role in the national network, at the junction of the North and East lines.

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