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Origin and history

The church Saint-Barthélémy de La Rochelle was founded in the middle of the 12th century to respond to the population growth, on a plot given by Elbe de Mauléon and Geoffroy de Rochefort. Built by the monks of Aix Island under the direction of Pierre de Mougon, it became a parish in 1217. Its history was marked by religious conflicts, especially during the Wars of Religion, where it was destroyed in 1568, leaving only its bell tower.

Rebuilt between 1668 and 1678 after the edict of Nantes, the church temporarily served as a cathedral before being demolished in 1797 to allow the completion of St. Louis Cathedral. Its bell tower, used as a military tower during the sieges of La Rochelle, was preserved and classified as a historical monument in 1906. It now houses three bells, including the Marie-Ursule bumblebee, melted in 1818.

The church played a major civic role: each year, during the Quasimodo, it hosted the election of the notables of La Rochelle, whose mayor was chosen. This tradition ceased after the destruction of 1568. The bell tower, the last witness of this building, preserves Gothic elements such as statues (Eve, St James) and gargoyles, as well as a clock restored in 1702.

The disappearance of Saint-Barthélémy is part of the tensions between Catholics and Protestants in La Rochelle. After 1628, Louis XIII confiscated the Protestant Grand Temple to become a cathedral, before Saint Barthélemy became a market and then was sold under the Revolution. Its location was finally integrated into the Saint-Louis Cathedral, whose bedside was completed in 1857.

The bell tower, a high symbolic place, was also a military issue: in 1628 a ball fired from its summit interrupted a conference between Richelieu and Lord Lindsay. Damaged during the Fronde (1651), he lost his upper floors. Today closed to the public, it is the subject of a €2.1 million restoration programme (2021-2023).

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