Temple (Paris) (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The Temple was a medieval fortress in Paris, located in what is now the IIIe arrondissement. It was built by the Knights Templar from the 12th century, as their European headquarters. In the 13th century it replaced earlier works of the Vieille Temple (Old Temple) in Le Marais. Parts of the fortress were later used as a prison. The enclosure (called enclos du Temple) originally featured a number of buildings important to the running of the order, and included a church and a massive turreted keep known as Grosse Tour (great tower), and a smaller tower called Tour de Csar (Caesar's Tower). The fortress was destroyed in 1808 to avoid the pilgrimage of royalists (since this was the prison of Louis XVI for some time); today the Temple Paris metro stop stands on the old location. The heavy doors of the Grosse Tour still exist and are kept at Ch teau de Vincennes whose great keep (attributed to Raymond du Temple) is speculated to have been inspired by the nearby Templar fortress.