Wall of Philip II Augustus , Paris The Wall of Philip Augustus is the oldest city wall of Paris ( France ) whose plan is accurately known . Partially integrated into buildings , more traces of it remain than of the later fortifications which were destroyed and replaced by the Grands Boulevards . History . The wall was built during the struggles between Philip II of France and the Anglo - Norman House of Plantagenet . The French king , before leaving for the Third Crusade , ordered a stone wall to be built to protect the French capital in his absence . Origin . The Right Bank was fortified from 1190 to 1209 and the Left Bank from 1200 to 1215 . The difference in completion dates was probably strategic . The Duchy of Normandy was in the hands of the English Plantagenet dynasty so an attack would most likely come from the northwest . Philip Augustus decided to build the fortress of the Louvre to strengthen the defence of the city from attack from the Seine . The Left Bank was less urbanized and less threatened and thus considered less of a priority . Evolution . Despite the construction during the 14th century of Charles V ' s wall encircling Philip Augustus ' wall on the Left Bank , the latter wall was not demolished . In 1434 , it was still considered strong enough and thick enough for a cart to be driven on top . However , Charles V ' s wall did not extend to the Left Bank , so the Philip Augustus ' old wall was strengthened by : Destruction . In 1533 , Francis I demolished the Right Bank gates and authorised the leasing of the land enclosed by the wall without authorising the demolition of the wall itself . From the second half of the 16th century , these lands were sold to individuals , and often the cause of the dismantling of large sections of the wall . The Left Bank wall followed the same path under Henry IV . In 1590 , he preferred digging ditches beyond the city outskirts to once again modernising the wall . The ditches near the Seine were used as open sewers and caused health problems so in the 17th century they were filled and replaced by covered galleries . The last remaining gates , unsuited to ever - increasing traffic , were rased in the 1680s from when the wall became completely invisible . Construction of the wall . The Philip Augustus ' wall enclosed an area of 253 hectares ; its length was 2500 metres on the Left Bank and 2600 on the Right Bank . The west side was the weakest point of the defence against Norman threat . Near the Seine , Philip Augustus built Fortress of the Louvre with a fortified donjon and ten defensive towers surrounded by a moat . The construction cost was slightly more than 14 , 000 livres during the roughly twenty years of the construction : representing about 12 percent of the king ' s annual revenues in the 13th century . City wall . The wall was between six and eight metres high , including the parapet , about three meters thick at the base . It was made from two walls of large ashlar - faced limestone blocks , reinforced with an infill of rough - hewn stone rubble and mortar . The wall was topped with a crenellated two - metre wide " chemin de ronde " . Towers and bastions . The wall had 77 semi - circular towers ( flat and integrated into the curtain wall on the town side ) at 60 - metre intervals . Each stood 15 metres high , with a six - metre diameter , and one - metre thick walls . The bases were vaulted but the higher floors were wooden planked . Four huge bastion towers – 25 metres high with a ten - metre diameter – stood at the points where the wall met the Seine . Their purpose was to defend the city against assault from the river ; heavy chains could be stretched across the river to prevent access . On the west side these were : On the east side : Gates and posterns . Fifteen large gates opened onto the roads leading to France ' s main cities . At first , they were identical : an ogival gate closed with two wooden panels set into two 15 - metre high and eight - metre diameter towers . Inside the gates two portcullis completed the construction . Simple postern s – piercing the wall – were added to improve traffic flow . They could be walled up in times of danger ( as could the less used or less defensible gates ) . However , some posterns were intended to be defended . Traces of the wall . Philip Augustus ' walls run through the 1st , 4th , 5th and 6th arrondissements of Paris . Downstream of the Seine , the wall ended at the fortress of the Louvre ( Right Bank ) , and the Tour de Nesle ( formerly " Tour Hamelin " ) on the Left Bank . Upstream , a barrage of heavy chains across the river linked the Tour Barbeau ( Right Bank ) to the Tour Loriaux ( on the island ) , linked itself to the Tournelle ( Left Bank ) . Chains rested on rafts moored to piles driven deep into the river . City gates . At the time of its construction , eleven main gates were laid out . Four other main gates , as well as numerous posterns , were added to reflect the city ' s growth . The main gates were flanked with towers , and either vaulted or left open to the sky , with gabled roofs and portcullis . Left Bank gates . Initially , there were only five gates on the Left Bank : In 1420 , a new gate was built near Saint - Germain - des - Prés : Porte des Cordeliers ( at the corner of the rue Monsieur - le - Prince and the rue Dupuytren ) . It was sometimes called Porte de Buci , named after an older gate further north . Finally , at the end of the 13th century , a postern was built east of the Porte Saint - Jacques , the Porte Papale ( " Pope ' s gate " ) or Porte Sainte - Geneviève at the end of the current rue d ' Ulm . Right Bank gates . At first , there were six gates on the Right Bank : Two posterns were built between the Porte Saint - Antoine and the Seine , as well as the Barbette postern ( rue Vieille - du - Temple , between the rue des Blancs - Manteaux and the rue des Francs - Bourgeois ) During the 13th century , other posterns were added : The last gate was added in 1280 : Remaining sections . Some sections of the wall remain visible :