Ancienne enceinte

English translation

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History

The old part of the village forms a quadrilateral shape imposed from the outset by the fortified enclosure. The latter appears to be datable to the 14th century, a period when the villages of Lower Languedoc enclosed themselves behind high walls and fortified their churches to protect themselves from bands of English mercenaries who pillaged the region. The enclosure is pierced, along its north-south axis, by a straight street closed at both ends by two fortified gates. The south gate, in round arch, is defended in its upper part by two machicolations on corbels. This gate opens onto a passage covered with a depressed barrel vault. On the back-arch the location of the murder-hole still appears. Two important rebates made on the jambs beyond the murder-hole allowed the movement of the portcullis. The north gate is also in round arch and protected by two machicolations. The central console receives the springing of the two arches by means of one and the same springer, a formula which is not without recalling the implementation of Lombard arcading of southern Romanesque art. This architectural detail may indicate that this gate is older than the previous one and could date to the end of the 12th or the 13th century. The back-arch of the north gate corresponds to a barrel vault in segmental arch which supported the wall-walk. The enclosure is still visible today, especially the west and south fronts.