A little history of Epinal castle
And also
The tops
The old Chaumont, calvo montis ("hot hill") was damaged by Vandals in the 5th century then by Barbarians 2 centuries later: then bishop of Metz, Théodoric d'Hamelan, founded the city in the 10th century, and raised a monastery at the bottom of the castle.
The city was called Spinal, maybe because at that time, the place was covered with spines and scrubs!
The castle, was, until the 13th century, the highest point of the city. We found a big and strong square keep with warehouses: inhabitants used to take shelter in this keep in case of danger.
A belfry crowned the keep: inside there was the lookout's house. You know what? They used to compensate the poor watchman, many times, because he was always exposed to violent storms and to thunders!
We also had Saint-Georges' tower, linked to the keep by a gallery. All around this, a big wall. At that time, they called the castle castrum superius, "High castle".
Then, two towers, a small castle and moats were added to the wall: Epinal became a strong fortress!
In 1670, the French, who occupied Lorraine, razed the castle... which was already in ruin, anyway. It became a quarry: stones were used for building sites in the city, in the 18th century...