The Big Clock Gate

The Grosse Horloge gate, in La Rochelle

The Grosse Horloge gate is an emblematic monument of La Rochelle, a former town gate topped with a belfry with a clock, that marks the passage from the Vieux-Port to the old town. The La Rochelle audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this gate of the origins of the town, transformed over the centuries to give the time to the inhabitants.

The former town gate become a belfry

You cannot miss it. Marking the passage from the Vieux-Port to the old town, the Grosse Horloge gate is an emblematic monument of La Rochelle, and certainly one of the oldest. It goes back to the primitive enclosure of the town, called of Guillaume X, and was first a simple town gate, formerly separated into two ways, one for the pedestrians, the other for the carriages. This imposing, fortified gate was destined to reinforce the protection of the town and to prevent the intrusions, at a time when La Rochelle, a rich merchant town, had to watch over its accesses. But its history changes when, from the fifteenth century, the inhabitants ask the municipality to be able to know the time at any moment: the town then decides to install a clock on the gate, that takes from then the name of Grosse Horloge. In the eighteenth century, the gate is deeply remodelled and embellished: it is topped with an elegant stone belfry, crowned with a campanile and richly adorned with pilasters, pediments and symbolic motifs evoking navigation and the passing time. The result is this harmonious monument that today watches over the passage between the port and the town. To cross the Grosse Horloge is to pass from the maritime world of the port to that of the lanes and the arcades of the old town. A historic gate and a belfry of the town, the Grosse Horloge gate is a fine stop of the discovery of La Rochelle.

What to see

Here you discover one of the oldest gates of La Rochelle, inherited from the primitive enclosure, that marks the passage from the Vieux-Port to the old town; a former fortified gate with two ways, it received a clock in the fifteenth century, hence its name, then was topped in the eighteenth century with an elegant stone belfry adorned with pilasters and pediments. The Grosse Horloge gate is a symbol of La Rochelle. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Grosse Horloge gate lies between the Vieux-Port and the old town of La Rochelle, reachable on foot. It is an open-air monument, freely passable and visible from the port as from the town. You discover it during a walk in the centre.

Where does the name of the Grosse Horloge gate come from in La Rochelle?

From the fifteenth century, the inhabitants asked to be able to know the time at any moment; the town then installed a clock on this former fortified gate, that took from then the name of Grosse Horloge. Inherited from the primitive enclosure, it was topped in the eighteenth century with an elegant stone belfry adorned with pilasters and pediments, and marks the passage from the Vieux-Port to the old town.

Where is the Grosse Horloge gate in La Rochelle?

Between the Vieux-Port and the old town of La Rochelle, in France.