Enceinte Châteauneuf, Medieval fortification in Tours, France.
Enceinte Châteauneuf is a medieval fortification in Tours with stone walls and defensive towers that once surrounded the Saint-Martin district. Two towers remain visible today, positioned in the east and southwest, standing within the modern city as remnants of the original defensive structure.
This fortification was built in the 10th century to protect the Saint-Martin basilica and establish independence from the older Gallo-Roman settlement. Its construction marked a turning point in how Tours grew and developed as a medieval city.
The enclosure created a boundary between the religious community of Saint-Martin and the secular neighborhood to the north. This division shaped how people lived and moved through medieval Tours.
The two towers are easily accessible from the surrounding streets and visible within the modern city layout without obstacles. Visiting them works well when exploring the broader Saint-Martin district, where you can see how the neighborhood developed around the historical fortification.
Different sections of the remaining walls received separate historical monument designations across the 1940s and 1950s as they were individually recognized. This gradual recognition reveals how archaeologists and historians slowly pieced together which parts of the fortification had survived.
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