Keep of Espirat

En un regard

Le château en bref

At Espirat, at the site known as ‘le Fort’, near the church square, the keep stands at the north-eastern corner of the former castle enclosure, of which substantial stretches of wall survive. It is a cylindrical tower whose original entrance opened on the first floor through a round-arched doorway, reached by a drawbridge or a movable gallery; three square holes beneath the threshold mark the beams of this arrangement. The wall is pierced with arrow loops and loopholes. The structure has been truncated and levelled at the height of the second floor; the vaults have disappeared, and only traces of the original staircase remain. According to the Inventory, it is, together with Montpeyroux and La Sauvetat, the only surviving fortified-town keep in Auvergne.