The Templars and the Parisian Builders 103built dedicated to the Holy Virgin and to Saint John the Baptist. They
also erected a refectory, a colombier, a large tower—the famous tower
of the Temple—and several houses.
This was the origin of the first two Templar establishments in Paris,
the building near Saint Gervais and the Enclos of the Temple. In 1147
the Order had some fairly spacious buildings in Paris near Saint
Gervais, where a domain called des Barres was located (Everard de
Barris, or des Barres, was then grand master of the Order). This was
used to hold a general chapter assembly, which both Pope Eugene III
and King Louis VII attended.
The domain of the Templars expanded considerably in short order,
either through acquisitions and donations or through construction. A
harvest record from 1247^1 shows that their holdings covered one third of
Paris at that time. Superimposed over a map of modern Paris, the Order's
domain would include part of the first arrondissement (the areas
approaching the Pont au Change and the Pont St. Michel, Chatelet, rue
Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, rue Saint Denis, and the current area of Les
Halles); part of the second arrondissement (rue Saint Denis and its imme-
diate area); a large portion of the third arrondissement; a portion of the
fourth arrondissement including the Saint Merri and Saint Gervais quar-
ters as well as the central part of the cite* (between rue d'Arcole and the
palace); a large part of the Sorbonne quarter (mainly Saint Julien le
Pauvre, Saint Sevrerin, and Cluny) in the fifth arrondissement; and,
finally, part of the eleventh arrondissement in the north, which served as
the Templar's farmland at that time and thus had no construction.
Of course this domain did not form a territory with clearly demar-
cated borders. Only the Enclos+ and its dependencies and the agricultural
+*[Cite refers to the original borders of the city of Paris. —Trans.]
Originally, the Enclos was designated as only the actual fortified enceinte (Seat of the
Temple, church, and tower), but eventually this term was applied to the entire domain
that can be approximately traced along the following streets: Place de la Republique,
avenue de la Republique, rue de la Folie Mericourt, rue Oberkampf, boulevard and rue
des Filles du Calvaire, rue de Turenne, rue de Throigny, place de Thorigny, rue Elzevir,
rue des Francs Bourgeois, rue pavee, rue Malheur, rue du Roi de Sicile, rue de la Verrerie,
rue du Renard, rue Saint Merri, rue Saint Martin, rue des Etuves, rue Beaubourg, rue
Simon le France, rue du Temple, rue Reamur, rue Bailly, rue de Turbigo, and back to
Place de la Republique. When the king undertook his struggle against the manorial jus-
tices, the original and more restrictive Enclos was restored. In its last incarnation, its
perimeter was framed by what are now the rue Temple, rue Beranger, rue Chariot, and
rue de Bretagne, and it was surrounded with thick, high walls with round defense tow-
ers. By 1820, however, the last traces of this enceinte had disappeared.