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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Vieille Tour d'Avoise is a fortified tower built in the 16th and 17th centuries, located in the municipality of Avoise, Sarthe (Pays de la Loire). It was part of an architectural ensemble now gone, and served as a ford tower to monitor salt landings on the Sarthe, from Le Mans. Its alternative name, Tour à Sel, reflects this historical function linked to the control of river cargoes.

The building, still intact in the early 20th century, as evidenced by postcards around 1900, was partially damaged around the 1960s for security reasons by the municipality. Despite this alteration, the tower was listed as historic monuments on January 6, 1926, recognizing its heritage value. Today, it remains a marker of local economic and architectural history, linked to the salt trade and navigation on the Sarthe.

The tower is located 50 metres east of Saint Sulpice Church, in the Sarthe Valley. Owned by the municipality of Avoise, it illustrates the strategic importance of river control points in this region, where salt was a major resource until modern times. Its architecture, though fragmentary, evokes the defensive and customs systems typical of the French navigable valleys.

The available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum, Mérimée base) confirm its heritage inscription and its precise location at 4 Rue du Grenier in Sel. No information is available on its current accessibility (visits, rental) or on any historical characters associated with its construction or use.

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