Tour des Fiefs et ancien château de Sancerre

Sancerre

At the top of the hill of Sancerre, the tour des Fiefs, dated 1390, is the last vestige of the feudal château, which had six towers. It recalls above all an episode of the Wars of Religion. Sancerre was a Protestant bastion. On 9 November 1572, troops of Racan took the town by surprise, but the Huguenots retook it after 17 hours. On 19 March 1573 the royal army, led by Claude de La Châtre (about 7,000 men), began the offensive. After the failure of an assault, it established a blockade. Famine became terrible: the inhabitants ate rats, leather, crushed slate; isolated accounts even mention cannibalism. There are said to have been about 500 dead, mostly children. The survivors left the town on 25 August 1573. The pastor Jean de Léry, who lived through the siege, told of it in 1574 in his Histoire mémorable du siège de Sancerre. The château was then demolished in 1621 by royal order, to prevent renewed resistance; the tour des Fiefs survived. Casualty figures vary according to the sources.

Getting there: Rue des Vieilles-Boucheries / place du Connétable, at the top of the village of Sancerre. Visiting conditions of the tower not verified. Coordinates: Nominatim (OpenStreetMap).

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

Ambient sound