Tour de Crest

Crest

At 52 metres, the Tour de Crest is the tallest medieval keep to have come down to us in France: fifteen rooms on five levels, set on a rock that locks the Drôme valley. Born in the 12th century at the heart of a castle bitterly fought over between the counts of Valentinois and the bishop-counts of Die, it saw Simon de Montfort pass through, besieging it in vain in 1217, before entering the royal domain in 1419. In 1633, Richelieu had the rebel castle dismantled — but spared the tower, too useful to lose: it became a state prison. So began its darkest career, which earned it the nickname of the "Bastille of the South". Sons of good families were locked up here on a simple lettre de cachet, then, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Protestants from the Dauphiné; finally, in 1851, hundreds of republican insurgents opposed to the coup d'état of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte were crammed in here before deportation. The walls keep the memory of these captives: carved graffiti, inscriptions, and the memory of tragic escape attempts, such as that of Philippe Rivoire who, in 1759, at seventy years of age, wove a rope from his sheets and was killed falling more than ten metres. Today, an audio trail carried by the voice of Major de Montrond, commander of the prison in the 18th century, guides the visitor up to the summit terrace, from which the eye ranges from the Trois Becs to the Vercors.

Getting there : Rue de la Tour, 26400 Crest; coordinates in the centre of the town, the tower is reached on foot through the lanes and stairways of old Crest (approach point). Open all year: 9.30am–7pm in July–August, 10am–7pm from April to September, weekends and school holidays 10am–6pm from October to March. Adult admission €10–11.50. Immersive audio trail and reconstructed cells.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound