Tour de Nesle
The Tour de Nesle or Nesle's Tower was one of the four large guard towers on the old city wall of Paris, constructed at the beginning of the 13th century by Philip II of France and demolished in 1665.

The tower was situated on the left (south) bank of the Seine facing the old castle of the Louvre on the opposite bank. Originally known as the "Tour Hamelin", it was a cylindrical structure of approximately 10 metres in diameter. The height was around 25 metres, with a stair turret reaching higher still. Later, the tower was incorporated into the Hôtel de Nesle, a medieval mansion.

On the right bank of the Seine river, was a similar tall tower : the "Tour du Coin" (=Corner tower). The towers protected the upstream approach into the city towards the Île de la Cité.

In 1308, Philip IV bought the tower from Amaury de Nesle. In 1319, Philip V donated the building to his Queen Jeanne de Bourgogne and she, in her will, left it for the College of Burgundy, which she founded for the University of Paris. Demolished in 1665, mansion and tower became the place of the Collège des Quatre-Nations (later occupied by the Institut de France) with the Bibliothèque Mazarine.

In the 19th century, Alexandre Dumas wrote the celebrated romance "La Tour de Nesle", in which he portrayed the place as a theatre of orgy and the place of murder of the Queen of France at the beginning of the 14th century, (likely Margaret of Burgundy). His story is based on the fifteenth century legend known as the "Tour de Nesle Affair" ("Affaire de la tour de Nesle"), centering on actual events that took place in 1314 where the daughters-in-law of Philip IV were accused of adultery, and their alleged lovers tortured, flayed, and executed.
Q5613989
guard tower
Concept
Q3053741
old city wall
LOC
Q90
Paris
LOC
Q34428
Philip II of France
PER
Q1075988
Louvre
LOC
None
Hôtel de Nesle
UNK
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Tour du Coin
UNK
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Île de la Cité
LOC
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Philip IV
PER
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Philip V
PER
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Jeanne de Bourgogne
PER
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University of Paris
ORG
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Collège des Quatre-Nations
ORG
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Institut de France
ORG
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Bibliothèque Mazarine
LOC
Q38337
Alexandre Dumas
PER
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La Tour de Nesle
MEDIA
Q70590
Margaret of Burgundy
PER
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Tour de Nesle Affair
Concept
Affaire de la tour de Nesle
UNK
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flayed
Concept
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Tour de Nesle
LOC
Q1937108
Tour de Nesle
LOC
1665-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1665
DATE
1308-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1308
DATE
1319-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1319
DATE
1665-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1665
DATE
1314-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1314
DATE
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13
NUMBER
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NUMBER
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25
NUMBER
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19
NUMBER
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14
NUMBER
located in the administrative territorial entity
commissioned by
author
point in time