Tour Penchée

The Leaning Tower of Oye-Plage is a German blockhouse from the Second World War, designed to imitate a church steeple and mislead British aviators. Located a few kilometers north of the real bell tower, it resisted post-war demolition attempts, remaining tilted about twenty degrees, hence its nickname.

From a distance you have the impression of seeing a lonely church tower in the middle of the landscape, which, however, is no longer vertical and is clearly out of plumb. Supposedly a northern French variant of the famous “Leaning Tower of Pisa” in Italy. But – as so often in life – appearances can be deceiving: this building is not a Christian building, but rather a facility that was formerly used for military purposes.

The Leaning Tower is a bunker built in the shape of a church steeple by the Germans during World War II. Its purpose was to deceive British airmen who came to bomb German targets and used visual cues to navigate; this false steeple could be confused with the city's steeple, located a few kilometers further south. Since the end of the war, attempts have been made to bring down this building using explosives. This was not enough. Now the tower is tilted about twenty degrees, hence its name.