 The cupola has paintings by William Bouguereau, a native of the city.Attached to the chevet of the present cathedral is the late medieval Gothic bell tower of the Church of St. Barthélémy (Saint Bartholomew), first constructed in 1152 by monks from the Ile d'Aix, the rest of which was destroyed by the Huguenots in 1568.The tower, on one of the highest points of La Rochelle, was used as a gun tower against the besieging army of Louis XIII in 1627.