Enceinte de la ville haute de Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges

English translation

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History

Situated in the south of the Haute-Garonne department, at the boundary of the Piedmont and the plain, the village of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is the heir to the ancient city of Lugdunum, chief town of the civitas of the Convènes since the last years of the 1st century BC. The archaeological remains of this city, and of its military camp of the 3rd century, are protected as Historic Monuments. The ramparts of the "upper town" of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges were built around the end of the 4th century or the beginning of the 5th century during a period of profound change in ancient civilisation: at that time, the urban fabric of cities contracted and the lack of a strong central power capable of ensuring the security of the provinces obliged the chief towns of civitas which did not have one to equip themselves with a defensive enclosure perched on a height. In Midi-Pyrénées there are three enclosures of this type, two of which have recently been classified as Historic Monuments (Saint-Lizier in Ariège and Saint-Lézer in Hautes-Pyrénées). All three are situated at the outlet of important ancient passages through the Pyrenean chain and constitute, together with those of Aude and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a homogeneous line of defence on the northern slope of the Pyrenees. The enclosure of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, 875 m long, encloses a roughly triangular surface of just over four hectares. It is pierced, certainly from the original construction, with three gates, to the east, west and south. The existence of remains of ancient towers is not currently assured but remains probable. Recent studies show that the monument is composite. Indeed, there is evidence of the destruction of most of the ancient parts in internal elevation, due essentially to a restriction of occupation (or abandonment?) in the early Middle Ages after the capture of the city by the Franks in 585. These are followed by reconstructions and slight modifications to the layout in the classical Middle Ages for reasons that were both defensive (reconstruction of elevations and repairs to the access gates) and, on the other hand, an increase in the habitable surface of the cathedral enclosure to the south of the town. The gates were modified again in the 16th and 17th centuries to allow easier access, or even, for the south gate, destroyed in the course of the 19th century. Currently the massive defensive aspect of the wall is relatively well preserved, except on the north and north-east flanks of the site where modern houses (16th century - 19th century) have created in places multiple openings, which greatly modify the original physiognomy of the enclosure.