Tour de Brison, Medieval castle tower in Sanilhac, France.

Tour de Brison is a 50-metre stone tower at 781 metres altitude on a hilltop in Sanilhac, above the villages of Vernon, Beaumont and Sanilhac. It is the last remnant of a castle complex whose platform of about 400 m² held three square towers and a lower courtyard. A thin mast stands beside it on the ridge.

The tower is the only surviving element of a castle complex whose history is unknown; it was probably abandoned for a more comfortable castle, partially destroyed in the Revolution in 1792 and totally by the Germans in 1944. According to P.-Y. Laffont, a platform of about 400 m² held three square towers and a lower courtyard. The tower was restored around 1990.

The tower's name comes from the sire de Brison, the crusader of local legend. Since 1989 the association Les amis de la tour de Brison has maintained the structure, and the tower now serves as a lookout post for the SDIS firefighters who watch for the first smoke of forest fires.

The tower stands at 781 metres on a ridge above Vernon, Beaumont and Sanilhac. A steep footpath climbs from a parking area to the summit; benches along the way allow rests. The summit is exposed and often wrapped in fog, as the photograph shows, so bring a jacket even in summer.

The legend says the devil, cheated of the Sire de Brison's soul, carries off one stone from the tower every year on the same day at the same hour; when the last stone is gone, the world will end. The tale is tied to the castle site, of which this tower is the only remnant.