Closed cities....
In the Middle Ages, the only province of Anjou (about the present Maine-et-Loire) had no less than 32 closed cities. These designated cities were surrounded by ramparts, themselves reinforced with towers, lined with ditches, and pierced with very well defended gates.
It must be said that at the time, there was always a tendency to be a little suspicious of the neighbouring city, whose inhabitants themselves tended to consider that your bread was whiter than theirs, and your women prettier!
These ramparts therefore had a military function.
But they were also the expression of a somewhat commercial ulterior motive: which says ramparts means gates to cross them... and the installation of a small grant then makes it possible to round off the city's finances!
Montreuil-Bellay, closed city
Of these 32 cities, 27 of which are in the current department of Maine-et-Loire alone, only Montreuil-Bellay still has its ramparts (with, to a lesser extent, the small town of Pouacé).
As a result, because of this unusual consequence of the course of history, the small town, well warm behind its ramparts, evolved relatively little after the 15th century.
Also, after admiring the ramparts themselves and its defences still intact, a visit to the city is a visit back in time. It has 17 labelled historical monuments.
Don't miss the castle. It is doubly protected by the city walls, and by its own walls, 650 metres, 13 defensive towers, fortified entrance with towers, barbican and drawbridge, no less!
Click on the image
Click on the image
Click on the image
