Provins Medieval Town - Île-de-France 🇫🇷 France

The fortified medieval town of Provence is situated in the former territory of the powerful Counts of Champagne. Today Provence is a veritable conservatory of medieval military, religious and civic architecture. Its fortifications constitute a dictionary of military architecture with a diversity of creative solutions. Its walls were built between the 11th and 13th centuries to protect the town from the kings of France and many of the towers such as the swine and engine towers are still standing. The original ramparts extend over 1.5 kilometers and the walls of the upper town are intact. Boasting 58 monuments registered on the inventory of France's historical monuments, Provence became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. The town ramparts are located on a rocky outcrop that overhangs the valleys of the Tourtain and Vosie rivers, offering it natural protection on its northern, eastern and southern sides. Eagles were once used to send messages from Provence to other nearby cities. Today it is possible to watch a demonstration on the ramparts of how the eagles obey their masters. The two gates in the ramparts are the gate of Saint-Jean, shown here, and the gate of Jouy, both of which were specially designed to protect the city. The two grand royal gates were constructed after the walls during the reign of Philippe Lebel in the 14th century. These two stone doors are linked by a fortified wall that encloses the upper part of the town. Along the curtain walls stand many defensive towers with different alternating forms, semi-circular, square and polygonal. An intensive restoration project has been underway since the 1970s, and after years of hard work, the magnificent Jouy gate has been restored to its former glory. An important financial, industrial and intellectual center, Provence contributed to the development of culture and trade over two centuries. Today it is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Western European trading town. The oldest buildings in Provence are probably from the 12th century, constructed in coursed-dressed stone. Provence's massive defense system with its ramparts was connected by the so-called small walls to the keep of the largest tower, or Caesar's Tower. Built on the rocky outcrop upon which the Ville Haute, or Upper City, of Provence was built, the current Caesar's Tower was probably erected under the reign of Henri le Libéral between 1152 and 1183. The tower was surmounted by a terrace upon which stood a surveillance tower and a covered walkway with battlements. The name of Caesar indicates a romantic association with ancient Rome. The tower is square at its base but at mid-height becomes octagonal in shape. It is flanked by four turrets that are detached from the first level of the covered walkway. One of the tower's main rooms is the guardroom. It possesses a very unusual vault with gothic arches. From there, stairs lead to the lower room, the governor's room, and the covered walkways. The battlement parapet is covered to protect against inclement weather and attacks. Each sentry box is covered by a small spherical vault, has a window to let in light, and opens onto the Provence is one of the four towns with Troyes, Ligny, and Barceaube where medieval fairs were held under the Counts of Champagne. Its location in central France was along a frequently used route to the north. In order to realize their political and economic ambitions, the Counts of Champagne began to develop a yearly calendar of fairs that were regularly organized to avoid overlapping and competition. The fairs brought merchants from all over Europe and the Orient to converge on Provence. The churches that were saved from the ravages of the revolution are important monuments in the history of architecture. The construction of the church of Saint-Curieuse began in the second half of the 13th century and concluded on a much more modest scale than originally planned, with the building of its façade in the 16th century. The ambulatory of the church of Saint-Curieuse is square, yet its choir is hemicycle in shape, a unique design that created complications in the ordinance of its vaults. The church's proportions are harmonious and its extraordinary architectural unity is the result of technical developments. The vault above its choir, called the Octoparthite Ribbed Vault, has a unique shape that exists only in the surrounding villages of Voulton and Ferriere-en-Brie. In the center of the Place du Châtel stand an ancient well and the exchange cross dating from the 13th century. In the center of the town was the old market square, surrounded by houses that were built to accommodate the needs of the fairs, each with its large vaulted underground storage spaces. The 12th century ramparts still encircle the upper town. The private buildings can be divided into two groups, those with multiple functions and those with solely commercial functions. The multifunctional buildings were for the most part the private residences of merchants, the lower floors of which served as shops and stores. Commercial buildings were more monumental structures, with stores and counting houses on their various floors. Provence Museum is located in the Maison Roman, one of its oldest buildings. The museum houses collections related to the town and its area's history from antiquity to the 19th century, including a furniture collection and medieval woodworks. Here is the convent of the Cordeliers, also called the Observant Franciscans. The religious monument was built in the 13th century by the Earl Thiebaud IV, on the hill facing his palace, after he had a vision of Saint Catherine. It became a hospital in 1749 by order of King Louis XV. The central courtyard square was surrounded by three large buildings enclosed to the south by a church from the 13th century. This square was bordered on all four sides by galleries. Only two remain in the east and west, both of which were saved through the intervention of Pierre-Marie May. The west gallery is the older of the two, dating from the 13th century. The convent was destroyed, along with much of the city, during a series of raids and sackings in the 15th century. It was rebuilt in the late 1400s. The fortified walls surround the entire ancient city. The tithe barn was once used as a covered market. This typical house with its superb vaulted cellar used to be rented to the merchants of Toulouse when they came to town to participate in Champagne's fairs. The lower room was used as a storage room. Unfortunately, there is little existing evidence regarding the various types of merchants and tradesmen that came to Provence for its fairs. Here is a Flemish merchant bringing wools, furs, and skins from northern Europe. The cross-ribbed vaulting in the entrance hall rests on capitals adorned with foliage. The money changer used an open table or a bench, hence the word banker. A letter writer would use a wax board to record every deed or transaction that transpired between the merchants and changers. The Italian merchants sold luxury items from the Mediterranean and Middle East. The stonecutters learned their trade during a long apprenticeship under a master artisan. Both the quarryman extracting stone and the potter displaying his works took part in the growth of Provence's manufacturing economy. This scene of wool working shows the numerous steps a weaver had to perform before he could place the wool on the loom. A parchment maker processes skins in order to exercise his very important trade. Provence's historical center, built almost entirely in the 12th and 13th centuries, is a well-preserved example of a medieval fair town with its fortified walls, a unique historical heritage that became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.