Visit pons city

The surge of pilgrims on the roads towards Compostelle explains construction in the Middle Ages of a great number of churches, monasteries, abbeys, hospital in order to accomodate them, to nourish them and to look after them.

True museum with open sky, the way towards Compostelle was indicated by the Council of Europe “first European cultural way”. The ways are classified European cultural routes in 1987 and Compostelle and of many stages is registered with the world heritage of the humanity of UNESCO.

It is within this framework there that the restoration of the Hospital of the Pilgrims of Pons was programmed; that the medieval garden is in the course of plantation in the enclosure even building which sheltered it in the XIII century. It remains to treat only the accesses of the monument.

The keep of Pons is an example characteristic of the Romance keeps of the west, with the austere nudity of its walls hardly sliced by the lightness of its buttresses. It is without question most imposing of the area.

You know by the documents of files that a first keep existed at the same place as of the 11th century. But it remains about it only of modest traces in the current bases because it was shaven in spring 1179 per Richard Lion-hearted who, according to its expeditious methods, sanctioned hard his vassal a little too turbulent.

The knight Geoffroy III, lord of Pons at that time, hastened to rebuild new shortly after. It is, as a whole, that you can see today.

At the origin, by its destination even of tiny room of defense, this powerful tower presented only few openings on outside. Only dating from construction are on the southern face, the least exposed to the attacks because the height of cliff and the best sunny one to clarify the interior.

Top of the keep and its covered way, the sight extends on all the city and the broad valley.

The keep was obviously only part of the castle of the lords de Pons.

The keep of Pons is classified historic building on October 8, 1879.

While following the alley of the planted esplanade of limes which skirts the ramparts one ends in a staircase going down to the foot of an old closed down vault, called of Gilles Saint. This small building established on heavy buttresses existed already with the XI century under the name Notre Dame of the Castle.

One is unaware of its primitive aspect because it was several times transformed, destroys and altered through the centuries, in particular with the XVI century during the wars of religion. With the foot of his bedside, under large a oculus, you discover a fort beautiful door Romance that one is tempted to take for lthe entrance of the vault, because of the sculptures which decorate it. This was actually the porch of l' main entrance of the castle which passed in vault under the true vault and assembled soft inclined until the interior enclosure.

This porch more usually called gate, was arranged with the XII ème century of the time of the lord Geoffroy III by lengthening the bedside of the vault which capped it.

This is an good example of l' Romanesque architecture of this middle of century. The three archivolts of its curve are a purely geometrical composition with in particular the archstones with cylindrical bearings qu' one finds on many churches neighbor; Chadenac, Marignac for example.

Many lanes going back to the medieval time remain still nowadays. They made the connection between the coupled high city with the castle and the river, nerve vital of the city.

Walk in the old city: High, narrow, surmounted the arcades or of arched passages, you will be attrated by these picturesque lanes with the evocative names with the occasion of a walk in the medieval heart.