Tour Notre-Dame, Military tower in Besançon, France

Tour Notre-Dame is a round tower of pale masonry set behind a stone retaining wall in the Tarragnoz sector, below the Citadel of Besançon. Its lower half has a single arched opening, while the upper storey is pierced by a small rectangular window and two narrow slits, and the tower is topped by a shallow conical roof. To its left, a lower wall of rectangular stone blocks extends horizontally, dotted with small square openings. The tower is now walled up.

Tour Notre-Dame was built in the 16th century to defend the Notre-Dame gate on the south-western edge of Besançon, in the Tarragnoz sector below the Citadel. Vauban reworked it in the 17th century, and it was later walled up. It has been listed as a monument historique since 26 October 1942.

The name Notre-Dame comes from the former Jussan-Moutier priory, whose nearby buildings were assigned to the Minimes order in 1607. The priory church was demolished during the Revolution on the decision of architect Marnotte, but the tower, the city gate and the Tarragnoz powder magazine keep its memory through the names Porte Notre-Dame and magasin de la Porte Notre-Dame.

The tower stands in the Tarragnoz sector, just below the Citadelle, near the historic centre. It is walled up and closed to visitors, so it is seen from outside: the round masonry tower with its conical roof rises behind a stone retaining wall, beside a lower wall pierced with small square openings.

The tower is also called Tour de Mostier, after the priory of Jussan-Moutier whose nearby buildings passed to the Minimes in 1607. The priory church was demolished at the Revolution on the architect Marnotte's decision, yet its name survives in the Porte Notre-Dame and the powder magazine of the Porte Notre-Dame.