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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Tour de la Croix des Pechs

Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Tour de la Croix des Pechs (cad. D 556) : inscription par arrêté du 19 avril 1961
Protection dates
1961/04/19 : inscrit MH
Type
édifice fortifié
Main period of construction
12e siècle, 17e siècle
Ownership
propriété privée
Commune
Sarlat-la-Canéda
Département
Dordogne
Region
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Country
France
Coordinates
44.88524, 1.23607
Mérimée reference
PA00082988

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1637 map "Aquitania" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Get directions ↗

This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

La forme de cette tour fait penser à celle de la lanterne des morts de Sarlat. Elle est construite de la même manière. Le toit est constitué par une série de pierres de taille séparée par des bourrelets faisant saillie. Le haut de l'édifice est ouvert, mais il semble qu'à l'origine il se terminait en pain de sucre. A l'intérieur, les ouvertures carrées dans les murs semblent trop grandes pour avoir servi à des pigeons, et paraissent plutôt être de petits placards. Un plancher de bois séparait les étages. Portes et fenêtres sont du 17e siècle, ainsi que la colonnade en partie brisée qui forme le couronnement. Selon la tradition, le monument aurait servi d'ermitage. Cependant, la présence d'un cimetière à proximité et la forme de l'édifice laissent penser à un usage comme lanterne des morts.

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

The form of this tower recalls that of the lantern of the dead of Sarlat. It is constructed in the same manner. The roof consists of a series of ashlar stones separated by projecting mouldings. The top of the building is open, but it seems that originally it ended in a sugar-loaf shape. Inside, the square openings in the walls seem too large to have served for pigeons, and appear rather to be small cupboards. A wooden floor separated the storeys. Doors and windows are from the 17th century, as is the colonnade partly broken which forms the crowning. According to tradition, the monument would have served as a hermitage. However, the presence of a cemetery nearby and the form of the building suggest use as a lantern of the dead.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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