Tour Soubirane

Of the urban enclosure, attested in 1208 and undoubtedly built in the 12th century on the initiative of the prior of Villeneuve in order to protect the inhabitants and the goods of the sauveté, reworked in the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War, the Cardalhac tower-gate and the Soubirane tower-gate remain

The Soubirane (Sobirana) tower or porte d'Amont, and the Cardalhac tower, together with the Manhanenque and Echorenque gates, located at the end of the sauveté and both now disappeared, constituted the main defense works of the city during the medieval period. Built in 1486 on the site of a first work and fully versatile, the Soubirane tower was then adapted to surveillance, to the defense of the city, to the storage of food and weapons, and served as a prison. Monumental and directed towards the road to Rodez to the east, and locking the access to the bastide, the Soubirane tower constituted an eminent urban symbol.

Adapted to artillery, as shown by the gun ports on the main facade, this prodigious defensive structure built of ashlar and limestone rubble, accessible by a spiral staircase, was extended to the west by a wooden gallery (hourdage) built on stone brackets with projections. This device made it possible to control the access to the Place des Conques and to carry out shootings if necessary. A guard, in charge of opening and closing the heavy doors and operating the winch that activated the two wooden harrows used as stopping elements, lived on the second floor of the tower. A manhole was used to bring up projectiles, belongings and food, to watch the passage and to shout orders. The gate tower was probably also used as a tollgate, which allowed for good surveillance, to impress the enemy and to interrupt all traffic, even during epidemics.