Keep of Saint-Paul-de-Vence

En un regard

Le château en bref

The keep of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, also known as the Tour de la Mairie (Town Hall Tower), is the only surviving remnant of the medieval castle that once overlooked the village. A first tower was built in the late 11th or early 12th century by the knightly family of Saint-Paul, before being rebuilt in the 13th century. The castrum is mentioned at the beginning of that century, and Raymond-Berenger V, Count of Provence, granted communal liberties to the village in 1227. The tower has a trapezoidal plan (approximately 6.30 x 8.90 x 6.47 x 10 metres) on five levels, with a blind ground floor and access through a door on the north side of the first floor; levels 1 and 3 are covered with semicircular barrel vaults, and a Gothic-style twin window lights the eastern façade. A wrought-iron campanile was added at the top of the tower in 1685. Listed as a historic monument, the keep now houses the village town hall.