Tour Blanche d'Issoudun, Medieval keep in Issoudun, Indre, France

The Tour Blanche d'Issoudun is a medieval keep standing in the historical center of the city, rising about 28 meters high with walls roughly 4 meters thick. The tower sits on an artificial mound and forms a notable landmark in the cityscape today.

Richard the Lionheart, duke of Aquitaine and king of England, had this keep built at the end of the 12th century on an artificial mound in the centre of Issoudun. Philip Augustus, who took the castle in 1202, completed it. The short building campaign explains the tower's homogeneous masonry. It replaced an 11th-century chapel or oratory on the site.

The tower's name comes from the pale stone of its walls, visible today above the steep grey roof of the low building in front of it. It is the surviving keep of the castle of Issoudun, whose walls once carried wooden hoardings, and it has been listed as a monument historique since 1840.

The tower stands on an artificial mound in the centre of Issoudun, so it is reached on foot from the surrounding streets. The sources record no opening times or visitor access, and the flat top is ringed by a metal railing. Its walls are 4 metres thick, so the interior space is narrow.

The tower's walls are 4 metres thick, and its construction was short enough to leave the masonry homogeneous. It was built on a site previously occupied by an 11th-century chapel or oratory, and it was listed as a monument historique in 1840.