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A little history of Fiefs tower in Sancerre

The tower | Anecdotrip.com / CC-BY-NC-SA
Tower Wars of Religion Sancerre Fiefs tower

The castle’s highest tower

Huguenots on the mountain

Here’s the last remain of the proud and impregnable castle of Sancerre, destroyed in 1621 by governor of Berry Henri de Bourbon, because Protestants hid in the city during the war of Religion.

Raised on a rock in the 10th century, the old castle belonging to counts of Champagne used to overlook the city. His rampart was composed of several towers: the higher one was the tour des Fiefs.

Towers galore!

• To the east, Saint-Georges tower, with its small oratory which used to be count of Sancerre’s private chapel, and on which they lit fires during battles. People could see those lights in a 40-km radius!

• To the south-east, Saint-Hilaire tower and Dauphine tower.

• To the south-west, Oval tower

• At the north-west, Fiefs tower, because it belonged to several fiefs in the area.

The Fiefs tower was raised by Guy de Dammartin, duke Jean de Berry’s architect, between 1390 and 1398 for Jean III de Sancerre.

Dungeon and Grand-Marnier

The tower is round outside, hexagonal inside. Inside, too, the very rustic wooden staircase dates back to 1856. And at the top of the tower (30 metres high!), the view is just amazing!

A taste of Grand-Marnier

So, once we’re on top, phew! We breathe fresh air. And we see the little brick manor house raised in 1874 by Miss de Crussol d’Uzès upon the former Saint-Georges tower.

A lady who inherited fortress of Sancerre from her family.

The tower and the small manor today belong to the family Marnier-Lapostolle... creator of the famous Grand Marnier!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!