What were the towers for?
Someone asked the other day. The towers were to guard the port. La Rochelle has been part of England and part of France in the past. The Huguenots who left for Canada and then ended up in Louisiana came from la Rochelle. There was also a terrible siege when a lot of Rochelais died.

I found my 'film script' so I have more information today:
No one knows the exact dates that the towers were built or should we say completed. The St. Nicolas tower around 1374, the Chain tower around 1382 and the Lantern tower around 1445. The Lantern tower was built over an old tower which dated back to the 12th centaury. The public can't visit the very old part, probably too dangerous.

The public have been able to visit the St. Nicolas and Lantern towers since the 60's, before that date, they were in a pretty bad state. Children played in them. Rob still meets elderly people who talk about how they used to play there, what a playground! The Chain tower has been opened up in the last few years as a floor was missing up until recently, there had been an explosion in there. There was a bar open to the public on the terrace, but that has been closed.

In the past there had been a model of the town of La Rochelle to visit in the Chain tower. When the Ministry of culture took over it was decided that, historically, the model was not at all accurate, so it was taken out. People still come looking for it and are most disappointed to hear that it has been dismantled.

Historians enjoy visiting the towers, so do people who climb up the stairs just for the view!