Altkirch town walls

En un regard

Le château en bref

Altkirch is mentioned in 1215 as an oppidum, probably provided with a wall whose exact medieval course is unknown. The enceinte presumably relies on the castle of the counts of Ferrette and also serves as a retaining wall against the hillside. In the eighteenth century, it had only two gates (Belfort to the west, Huningue to the east, destroyed); a "porte neuve" was opened in 1754. Three towers survive, partly adapted for artillery in the sixteenth century (uncertain date), then remodelled in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Having lost its strategic importance, the wall was pierced with windows by private owners. The wall is of rubble masonry with rendering; tower 1, semicircular, is probably from the thirteenth century.