Tour de Clairvaux

FORTIFIED PORTE village rampart

In May 1356, at the start of the Hundred Years' War, an English troop occupied the Clairvaux Sauveté for a few days. Four months later, in September, King Jean le Bon of France was defeated at Poitiers. It was around this time, probably later, that the inhabitants decided to surround themselves with ramparts. In addition to a postern to the north, the town would have two gates, one to the east, naturally protected by the river, and the other to the west. This gate, surmounted by a high tower, is both defensive and prestigious (the coat of arms that adorned it can still be seen, unfortunately eaten away by time). The so-called "open-throat" model, dating from the 14th century, was adopted, with three levels of archways and semicircular-arched machicolations.

Since the end of June, the tower has been open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., where visitors can climb the 19 m to enjoy a 360° panoramic view of the hilltop villages of Panat and Cassagnes Comtaux and the terraced vineyards that give our valley its identity.

Article from Centre Presse, published 04/09/2022

The 14th-century Tour de Clairvaux will carry the hopes of Aveyron's Mission Patrimoine and its national lottery. A welcome boost for the Friends of Heritage and the commune, who are working together to restore the edifice at an estimated cost of ? 500,000. The tower will take care of that. In the meantime, she tells us all about it.

The reason why the town council and the Friends of Clairvaux association are so busy at my bedside is that, given my great age and the ravages of time and weather, I think I can confess to having suffered a few alterations: I lost my head a long time ago, as well as my interior landings; the worst thing is the crumbling of my stone, the red sandstone so prized here, but so fragile at times.

I'm said to be the jewel of the commune of Clairvaux, the most emblematic, and one of the most beautiful tower gates in Aveyron. While I rival my eastern cousin, the Porte de Rodez, in originality and curiosity, the bell tower of the neighboring Romanesque church, the "toats" in the cellars of the town houses, the ancient statues or those of the Parisians, the fountain and the cellars and wine tastings, I remain the benchmark of medieval architecture in the imagination of many visitors to my town.

My Clairvaux country and history

A draye, or transhumance path, from Quercy to Aubrac, probably prehistoric, then Roman and medieval, passed through Rignac, Ruffepeyre and Murat (Clairvaux), a place named after a night pen for herds on their way to the green pastures of Aubrac. At the beginning of the 11th century, the Ady valley under Panat was already home to vineyards supported by stone terraces and winegrowers? houses. On the left bank of the river are the ruins of a small, partly ruined monastery called Bonneval. On the right bank, a small chapel dedicated to Saint Didier de Cahors (sant Drezier) serves as a place of worship.

The story: in 1060, returning from a long pilgrimage that took him to Jerusalem, Rome and Brantôme (the Venice of Périgord), Prince Alboin, son of Harold King of England, following the "old draye", spotted the well-cultivated valley of Bonneval and the towers of Panat and Cassagnes Comtaux facing each other. He decided to go there, and sadly discovered the ruins of the monastery amidst the vines, which he decided to raise. He sought the agreement of the de Panat family, the Countess of Rodez and even the Bishop, and pulled off a masterstroke: the territory around the monastery would become an "alleu", a land without a lord, under the sole authority of the Abbey of Brantôme. Thus was born the sauveté of Claravals, a place of asylum and peace, and to populate it, the people who settled there would be free of all dues, and there would be a market where transactions would not be taxed. Buildings soon filled the allotted lots in a characteristic, roughly rectangular plan cut by a network of streets and alleys. The boundaries of the sauveté are still visible when you visit Clairvaux (a visit that the Friends of Clairvaux have documented - just get the map and follow the explanatory plaques).

The sauveté status and its spiritual and moral rampart, which had protected "my town" for three centuries, were no longer sufficient in the face of lawlessness. It was therefore decided to build physical defences: a wall, the line of which can still be seen to the north and west, towers (no longer in existence) and two town gates, one of which is known as the "tower".

My construction must have taken place immediately after 1356, when a group of truckers seized Clairvaux and had to be dislodged by an army sent by neighboring Rodez. My builders had opted for a tower that was open at the rear, as an attacker who had been able to enter the town would not have been able to use this advantage against the interior, as he himself would have been defenseless. Moreover, an opening to the east could be afforded, as this is not the side of the rain.

In his book "L'architecture militaire dans le Rouergue au Moyen Âge" (1981), Jacques Miquel, historian of castles and fortifications, analyzed my original features. I'm an "open-throated tower", with no façade on the "town" side, one of the rare cases of a town gate of this type in Aveyron, along with that of Peyrusse-le-Roc. The architecture is designed to give an air of power, in order to dissuade a potential assailant: little depth, no large platforms capable of carrying heavy machinery, no stone staircases to bring them together, but undoubtedly wooden staircases of the miller?s ladder type. The whole was sheltered by a four-sloped roof, whose supporting corner pillars have been preserved. I have four levels, three of which have archways that date back to the mid-14th century.

I was restored by the inhabitants in 1412, in fear of further attacks. The population of an area almost equivalent to the present-day commune of Clairvaux (minus Panat, but including the entire Ruffepeyre sector) had a right of refuge there, and in return was required to contribute to the upkeep of its ramparts.

The Porte de Clairvaux, which is one of the finest examples of 14th-century defensive architecture and would be worthy of inclusion in a top selection, alongside the gates of Mur-de-Barrez, Peyrusse, Villecomtal, Villeneuve, etc., deserves to be on the list of historic monuments. I am the emblematic memory of this history of men and women who have been counting on me and contemplating me for over a millennium.

The men and women of the third millennium have decided to save me, and elected representatives and friends are questioning the collective conscience; they are calling on the participation of all structures and, in partnership with the Fondation du Patrimoine and the Bern Mission, are once again appealing to public generosity to restore me. I'll be back in action, offering visitors an unparalleled view of the Claravals rescue.