Donjon de la Toque, keep in Huriel, France

Donjon de la Toque is a large granite tower at the center of Huriel, rising about 33 meters with five floors above a vaulted cellar and walls up to 2.30 meters thick at the base. Narrow, tall windows with stone mullions and fireplaces mark the interior spaces, while thick gray stones still retain their form after centuries.

The Humbaud family built the keep between the late 11th and late 12th century; its upper parts were reworked in the 13th century. Around 1265 Marguerite de Déols brought Huriel by marriage to the Brosse family, and Marshal Jean de Brosse was born at the castle in 1375. In 1478 Jean II de Brosse sold Huriel to Jean de Bourgogne, Count of Nevers; the town passed through several families before entering the Jehannot de Bartillat family in 1673. The commune bought the castle in 1879, and restoration of La Toque was completed in 2023.

The name La Toque comes from the tower's distinctive roof shape that crowned the structure until 1903, giving it a recognizable appearance in the local landscape. This naming reflects how the building became tied to the town's identity and memory over the centuries.

The keep stands in the centre of Huriel, and the museum inside covers the lords of Huriel and the town's former vineyards. A staircase added on the north side during the 1903 restoration now gives access to the five stacked halls above the vaulted cellar. The moat that once surrounded the tower was filled in between 1779 and 1845.

The keep's rectangular plan of 12 by 10 metres is described as fairly rare in France, and its walls taper from 2.30 metres at the base to 1 metre at the top. The entrance sat high up, reached by a removable footbridge from the top of the surrounding wall. A staircase added on the north side during the 1903 restoration now gives access to the rooms.