Templars’ Lost Treasure

The French capital is at once historic, modern, romantic, intellectual, grandiose and elegantly understated.

Exploring the Region’s Templar Connection

The Square du Temple is a garden in Paris, France in the 3rd arrondissement, established in 1857. It is one of 24 city squares planned and created by Georges-Eugène Haussmann and Jean-Charles Alphand. The Square occupies the site of a medieval fortress in Paris, built by the Knights Templar. Parts of the fortress were later used as a prison during the French Revolution, and then demolished by the mid-19th century.

The Knights Templar

The Knights Templar began in the 12th century, constructing a fort first (Vieux Temple or Old Temple) in Le Marais. In the 13th century, a new fortress was built as their European headquarters. The enclosure, called enclos du Temple, originally featured a number of buildings important to the running of the Order, and included a church and a massive turreted keep known as Grosse Tour (great tower), and a smaller tower called Tour de César (Caesar’s Tower).

The location of the towers is drawn on the floor in front of the town hall, rue Eugene Spuller. The heavy doors of the Grosse Tour still exist and are kept at Château de Vincennes whose great keep, attributed to Raymond du Temple, is speculated to have been inspired by the nearby Templar fortress.

Rise and Fall of the Templars

The Crusaders began from deep inside Europe and gradually evolved from a disorganised peasant oriented invasion to a more structured entity with the emergence of the Templars. Discoverer’s Trail of the Ark follows the dramatic story of where the Ark might have been taken. The Templars have often been associated with rumours of possessing temple treasure. The Crusaders path of destruction winds from Europe to the Holy Land. Whilst, a crushing military defeat was dealt upon the order in the Holy Land, it was later events in Europe, including Paris that truly added to all the mystique surrounding the Knights Templar and its alleged lost treasures, allegedly stolen from the Holy Land.

What to See and Do

While in Paris there is no shortage of things to see and do. Top of the list is of course the famous Eiffel Tower, It would take a book to fully list other attractions! But the Palace Versailles is counted among one of the worlds most visited places.

Where to Stay

A Discoverer’s Trail tour will ensure you gain the most optimum of accommodation options. However, from backpackers to jet setters, advice to available through your local Discoverer’s Trail office.

How to Get Around

The Parisian Metro is a must experience. While our guided tours of Paris are not to be missed, it would be inappropriate not to recommend also taking the local Parisian experience from strolling down the Champs Elyse to taking our own guided boat cruise of the River Seine.

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