Place de l'Église

The Eglise Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Pantin keeps its original eighteenth-century bell tower, a slender stone marker rising above the surrounding low roofs. While most of the structure saw a major overhaul in the nineteenth century to accommodate a growing industrial population, the tower remains a survivor of the older village that existed here long before the factories arrived. During the French Revolution, the church became a temple of reason, and local records show the tower bells were melted down to cast cannons for the republican army.