Tour de Constance - Aigues Mortes/France - Look-Out Towers on Waymarking.com

The Tour de Constance is a fortified tower in the southern French city of Aigues-Mortes on the edge of the Camargue. The tower was built from 1242 to 1254 under Louis IX. at the former site of the Tour Matafère, built in turn under Charlemagne in the year 790.

The tower has a diameter of 22 meters and a height to the top of the lantern of 33 meters. The thickness of foundation walls shall be six feet.

The round, two-story tower stands outside the city walls, with which it is connected by a bridge.

The main rooms of the floors, in the basement, this is the room of the guards and the upper floor of the great hall, each of which has a ribbed vault. A round opening in the center of the room the guards allowed access to the basement, here Kerker and ammunition were. About the knight's hall there is access to the roof terrace, which at times served as the starting area for prisoners.

For centuries, the tower served as a prison again and again. In the 14th century the members of the Knights Templar eventually were imprisoned here, from the 17th century, the Huguenots, and in 1815 the officers of Napoleon.

The most famous prisoner was the Huguenot Marie Durand, who was imprisoned here since age 18, for 38 years and was released in 1768. Marie Durand is according to tradition, the still readable word Resister (franz., Dt. Resist, oppose) on the edge of a fountain located in the tower have scratched.

Since 1903, the tower is run as a monument in the List of Monuments historiques.

Difficulty: Height of Look-Out Tower in feet: Not Listed Opening times and fees: Not listed Parking Area: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
Please log only if you have been up there and you must include a photo of the scenic view from the top.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/02/2021 sara et gege visited it 01/08/2019 Eibacher Kuckuck visited it 10/30/2018 Belugue visited it 07/17/2015 09Naturel visited it

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