Tour de Sagnes

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

History

This tower is only one element of the ensemble of fortified constructions which belonged to the lords and co-lords of Cardaillac. Of square plan, the tower comprises a solid part 3.60m high and two storeys each containing a square room. It is possible that the ground floor, which appears to be a solid plinth, contains a room without external access. The rooms of the storeys are covered with cloister vault arches, reinforced at the angles with arches forming rib vaults with rectangular section, but having no common keystone. These arches rest on columns with bases and capitals embedded in the angles. This system of vault which appears to have nothing in common with the rib vaults of northern France, recalls the solutions of ribbed domes of Mozarabic Spain. The two rooms communicate with each other by a staircase with ashlar steps, without rampant vault. A second staircase placed in the room of the second storey permits access to the upper platform. The entrance door of the first storey appears to have been able to be in communication with the curtain wall of the rampart, distant three to four metres from the north face of the tower, by means of a drawbridge taking support in the holes made in the wall below the threshold of the door. The room of the second storey also possesses a door on the south face, and a rectangular latrine forming a projection on the west wall.