The Tour St. Jacques

Towering over the buildings around it, this Parisian landmark was recently restored and surrounded by newly planted trees just before Gustave Le Gray photographed it. The tower is all that remains of a church built in the 1500s and demolished in 1797. During the reign of Napoléon III, many Paris buildings were torn down to make way for wider streets or new structures. The Gothic Tour Saint-Jacques was spared this fate thanks to massive public protests.