1,640 meters of medieval ramparts

Louis IX wanted to equip his city with ramparts to protect it both from potential enemies and from the winds that drove sand into the streets. Unfortunately, he died on crusade in Tunis in 1270, and was unable to bring his project to fruition.

Work on the enceinte began two years after the king's death. Philippe III le Hardi took over the project, and Philippe Le Bel continued it. It was therefore at the very end of the 13th century, or at the very beginning of the 14th century, that this defensive complex was completed.

The enclosure extends over a length of 1,640 meters. The perimeter wall is solidly reinforced with a series of archères accessible from the street running alongside the inner wall and from the battlements of the covered way. To facilitate soldiers' access to the curtain walls fifteen military staircases linked the wall walk directly to the town. Some of these stairways are now walled in.

The curtain walls rise to around 11 meters and are almost 3 meters thick. The various structures along the perimeter rise to an average of 18 meters above ground level. But that's just the mineral part, the only part that has survived to the present day. Above these walls, you have to imagine a whole wooden construction forming the hourds .

The northern rampart

To the north, on the other hand, the emphasis is on defense .

There are only two large gates . The Porte de la Gardette is the main gateway to the city. To reinforce its defense and control access, it was preceded by a barbican. . A drawbridge spanned the moat, traces of which can be seen on the façade. The Porte Saint-Antoine is a secondary entrance.

Between these gates, the Salt and Wick towers reinforced the curtain wall and enabled more effective defense of the moat. The Tour de Villeneuve is typical of a corner tower, reinforcing the defense of the surrounding wall.

In the eyes of the tower's designers, the enemy could only come from the north, and trade had to be encouraged.

The Aigues-Mortes monument is a perfect example of how to learn about medieval military architecture, discover its vocabulary and understand the defensive techniques used by the city's defenders.

Although the wooden superstructures (the hourds) have disappeared, as you walk along the curtain wall and through the various structures, you can familiarize yourself with the architectural elements of the outer defences, such as the archères, firing chambers and échauguettes. stunners battlements and merlons forming protection and supporting the hoardings... and with those to be attached to the defense of the curtain walls themselves, the bretèches for example, or the system of military staircases.