Tour des Pins, Medieval tower in Montpellier, France

The Tour des Pins is a square medieval tower on Boulevard Henri IV in Montpellier, built of light-coloured stone blocks. It stands 25 metres high, its flat top edged by pointed arches on carved corbels, with a narrow slit window halfway up and a stone plaque near the base.

Built at the end of the 12th or start of the 13th century, the Tour des Pins was one of 25 watchtowers in the wall that enclosed Montpellier. It is the best preserved of the four surviving vestiges, alongside the Tour de la Babote, the porte de la Blanquerie and the porte du Pila Saint-Gély. The crenellated upper section was added at the end of the 14th century; the tower lost four metres when its moat was filled in 1778.

Since 2003 the tower has housed two Montpellier tradition groups: the confrérie des Barons de Caravètes and La Garriga. On the boulevard Henri IV facade, an Occitan plaque recalls Jacques I of Aragon, born in the city in 1208 and lord of Montpellier through his mother Marie de Montpellier.

The tower sits in a central location in Montpellier and is easy to reach by public transport. It is best visited during mid-morning or early afternoon hours when the area is less crowded.

The tower takes its name from pine trees that once grew at its summit, which local tradition linked to the city's fate. This unusual connection between nature and urban prophecy makes it a memorable part of Montpellier's local stories.