Towers to visit New Aquitaine

Located in the immediate vicinity of Saint-Caprais cathedral, this tower classified as Historic Monument, is the last vestige of the second enclosure of Agen. In the Middle Ages, the city was protected by an important fortification system and if the tower has survived, it is because it has been the bell tower of the Benedictines convent for a long time. The convent was liquidated after the French Revolution and this tower was used as a jail from 1815. Long neglected, it has been restored and now houses an architectural firm.

The dungeon, 28 metres high, is the last and smallest of the seven towers of the old feudal castle built by Richard Lion, the future King of England. At the top of the summit, you can find and see the chimneys of La Manu in Chatellerault and those of the Centrale, a bird's flight, 46 kilometres away! Within the castle walls, the th century Notre-Dame-des-Vergers chapel of the th century, a transitional ogival style with the half-slender shape, the emerging arches with all the details of Romanesque ornamentation. In the past, superb murals from the th to the th century represented the bucolic work of the twelve months of the year.

Dominating the Combraille tower, the tower of Sermur, probably high in the 721 th century, was one of the elements of the castle that stood at metres above sea level. In 1357, when the English attacked - the complex was in a strategic location since Sermur was then one of the fiefdoms of the Counts of Auvergne - the whole was partially destroyed, between 1390 and 1410. Today it remains only the remains of this square tower of seven metres side.

Of the 7 access gates that once encircled Villeneuve-sur-Lot, only 2 remain today: the Porte de Paris and the Porte de Pujols, built in the ^14th century. The others were destroyed in the ^17th century, under Mazarin during the Fronde. The height of these square towers and the presence of machicolations testify to their defensive role. Although their shapes are very similar, you can have fun looking for the small differences between the two listed buildings.