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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Tour des Pins

Montpellier, Hérault, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Tour des Pins : inscription par arrêté du 21 décembre 1925
Protection dates
1925/12/21 : inscrit MH
Type
édifice fortifié
Main period of construction
2e moitié 12e siècle, 4e quart 14e siècle
Ownership
propriété de la commune
Address
boulevard Henri-IV
Commune
Montpellier
Département
Hérault
Region
Occitanie
Country
France
Coordinates
43.61399, 3.87357
Mérimée reference
PA00103610

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 1750 map "Composite 15: Carte de France." (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

Cette tour est la seule subsistante des 25 tours de l'ancienne enceinte de Montpellier. C'est un donjon carré, surmonté de mâchicoulis. Il présente, dans un élévation, deux constructions différentes. La partie inférieure, construite en pierres coquillières à assises d'égale hauteur et taillée en bossage, appartient à l'enceinte qui fut élevée durant la seconde moitié du 12e siècle et le début du 13e. La partie supérieure, constituée par des assises de hauteur inégale et sans bossage, se rattache aux travaux de fortification exécutés dans la seconde moitié du 14e siècle. Cette tour doit son nom aux pins qui poussaient à son sommet, remplacés par des cyprès.

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

This tower is the only remaining one of the 25 towers of the former fortifications of Montpellier. It is a square keep, surmounted by machicolations. It presents, in an elevation, two different constructions. The lower part, built in shell-stone with courses of equal height and dressed in bossage, belongs to the fortifications which were raised during the second half of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th. The upper part, composed of courses of unequal height and without bossage, relates to fortification works executed in the second half of the 14th century. This tower owes its name to the pines that grew at its summit, replaced by cypresses.

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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