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Date: Late 1st century B.C.
Period: Antiquity, Middle Ages
Type : Fortified architecture
Status: Property of the City of Arles Classified as a Historic Monument (1886), Unesco World Heritage Site (1981)
At the southeast corner of the ancient rampart, the Tour des Mourgues remains the most visible and best-preserved of the circular towers that flanked the enclosure. It takes its name from the nuns (mourgues) of the monastery founded nearby by bishop Césaire in the early 6th century, of which the nearby church of Saint-Blaise remains. Its structure tells us about the changes that the rampart may have undergone, from the prestigious and ostentatious function that presided over its construction, to the defensive imperatives that the town would later face. The quality of the tower's construction is best appreciated from the inside. With an internal diameter of 7.90 metres, it opened onto the city through a doorway whose lintel, a monolith curved to match the curvature of the façade, is surmounted by a perfectly dressed relieving arch. This postern shows that the ground level was the same inside and outside the town. The 6-metre-high initial tower was built with the same care as the two perpendicular curtain walls on which it stands. Originally circular, the Mourgues tower has undergone a number of modifications. On the north side, the tower has been lined on the outside with large-scale stonework, probably dating from Late Antiquity. The south side has also been reinforced, probably in the 16th century, with a polygonal outer shell in regular "moyen appareil" with a glacis base. To the west of the building, towards Montée Vauban, the enclosure was doubled on the outside by a large unit facing, forming the beginning of the medieval rampart. In this new configuration, from today's Carrefour de la Croisière, the tower stands some 30 metres high.
Period: Antiquity, Middle Ages
Type : Fortified architecture
Status: Property of the City of Arles Classified as a Historic Monument (1886), Unesco World Heritage Site (1981)
At the southeast corner of the ancient rampart, the Tour des Mourgues remains the most visible and best-preserved of the circular towers that flanked the enclosure. It takes its name from the nuns (mourgues) of the monastery founded nearby by bishop Césaire in the early 6th century, of which the nearby church of Saint-Blaise remains. Its structure tells us about the changes that the rampart may have undergone, from the prestigious and ostentatious function that presided over its construction, to the defensive imperatives that the town would later face. The quality of the tower's construction is best appreciated from the inside. With an internal diameter of 7.90 metres, it opened onto the city through a doorway whose lintel, a monolith curved to match the curvature of the façade, is surmounted by a perfectly dressed relieving arch. This postern shows that the ground level was the same inside and outside the town. The 6-metre-high initial tower was built with the same care as the two perpendicular curtain walls on which it stands. Originally circular, the Mourgues tower has undergone a number of modifications. On the north side, the tower has been lined on the outside with large-scale stonework, probably dating from Late Antiquity. The south side has also been reinforced, probably in the 16th century, with a polygonal outer shell in regular "moyen appareil" with a glacis base. To the west of the building, towards Montée Vauban, the enclosure was doubled on the outside by a large unit facing, forming the beginning of the medieval rampart. In this new configuration, from today's Carrefour de la Croisière, the tower stands some 30 metres high.
Date: Late 1st century B.C.
Period: Antiquity, Middle Ages
Type : Fortified architecture
Status: Property of the City of Arles Classified as a Historic Monument (1886), Unesco World Heritage Site (1981)
At the southeast corner of the ancient rampart, the Tour des Mourgues remains the most visible and best-preserved of the circular towers that flanked the enclosure. It takes its name from the nuns (mourgues) of the monastery founded nearby by bishop Césaire in the early 6th century, of which...
Period: Antiquity, Middle Ages
Type : Fortified architecture
Status: Property of the City of Arles Classified as a Historic Monument (1886), Unesco World Heritage Site (1981)
At the southeast corner of the ancient rampart, the Tour des Mourgues remains the most visible and best-preserved of the circular towers that flanked the enclosure. It takes its name from the nuns (mourgues) of the monastery founded nearby by bishop Césaire in the early 6th century, of which...
