Joan of Arc Tower

The tower you see here, known as the “Great Tower of the King” or more commonly the “Joan of Arc Tower,” is the last surviving part of the original Capetian castle, which replaced an earlier Carolingian fortress. Remarkably, this is the oldest known example of a perfectly circular defensive tower in France. Built next to the river, it was designed to guard and protect the old bridge that once crossed the Oise. It’s called the Joan of Arc Tower because she was captured by the Burgundians just across the river. On May 23, 1430, Joan of Arc left the besieged city of Compiègne with 500 men in an attempt to break the enemy’s hold on the town. But the plan quickly fell apart. As the situation turned critical, the French forces retreated behind the safety of the city walls, leaving Joan and a small group of loyal fighters behind. They fought bravely but were overwhelmed and taken prisoner. From the top of this tower, Guillaume de Flavy, the city’s captain at the time, watched it all unfold, powerless to stop it. Years later, in 1455, he was accused of having betrayed Joan by letting her fall into enemy hands, but most historians now reject this claim. After her capture, Joan was sold to the English, imprisoned in Rouen, and ultimately condemned for heresy. In 1431, she was burned at the stake.