Libourne · FR

Porte de Libourne

The Porte de Libourne — also known as the Tour du Grand Port — is the most imposing surviving fragment of the medieval walls that once encircled the bastide town of Libourne. Built between 1281 and 1341 under the English crown of Edward III, this fortified gate guarded the busiest entrance to the town: the water gate onto the river Isle, which served as Libourne's working harbor for centuries. Today, standing on the open esplanade beside the Isle, visitors can read six hundred years of military and civic history in the stonework: twin round towers with machicolations, murder holes, arrow-slits, and the grooves where a portcullis once slid shut. The taller tower wears a distinctive conical slate roof that was added in the sixteenth century, giving it the silhouette most associated with Libourne's skyline.