Jodafa sur Evreux

30/03/2024: If you earn nothing from selling cigarios individually. Don't sell them. That's no reason to speak badly to customers.

01/03/2024: The Ébroïcien Pierre Moteau is the architect. The building has never been described as a belfry in historical sources. The 44m tower, 140 steps high, was first known as the clock and then the Clock Tower. Under the Hundred Years' War (1328-1436) The role of the Clock Tower Before 1396, a tower of the cathedral served as a watchtower for the city's inhabitants, who had a bell there to sound the alert. This year, the city has its first clock installed in a wooden building. Évreux was also one of the first towns in the kingdom to have a clock, in 1396. The role of the bourgeoisie in its construction The nature of the activities of the bourgeoisie requires a different measure of time than the dominant one of the Church, aimed at better controlling production and commercial transactions. Time needs to be measured more precisely. The essential function of the Clock Tower is therefore to punctuate the working day by telling residents the time. In 1403, the assembly of bourgeois decided to build a tower with a clock and bell. The project began with the manufacture of the bell (1406), named "Louyse", named after its godfather the Dauphin Louis, son of Charles VI and Duke of Guyenne. Construction of the tower was then launched, near the Porte de Rouen: this location made it possible to monitor the road which led to this city and through which the English often carried out their attacks. This tower was completed in 1410. That year, Louyse was installed there. The clock was made by a craftsman from Mantes, and began to chime the hours in 1412. Under Louis XI (1461-1483) In 1464, the townspeople wanted to rebuild the building. In 1481, King Louis XI sent the provost and 70 archers to demolish it. The clock was kept and temporarily moved to a church, while the old tower was destroyed and rebuilt from 1490. The structural work was completed in 1498. In modern times (1492-1789) In 1656, during the Fronde des princes, succeeding that of the parliamentarians (contesting the regency of Anne of Austria), an arquebus shot caused bullet holes on the Clock Tower, to force Évreux, faithful to the king, to capitulate.