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Origin and history

The enclosure of Saint-Macaire, built mainly in the 13th century, surrounded a fortified town established on a rocky spur overlooking the Garonne. Its three successive enclosures (5.40 ha, 1.23 ha and 0.94 ha) protected the city centre, Thuron suburbs and Rendesse. The ramparts, originally ten metres high, were crenellated and pierced with doors such as the Thuron Gate (classified in 1915) or the Benauge Gate (registered in 1931). The current remains, registered in 1991, still serve as support to the south, near the church of Saint-Sauveur-et-Saint-Martin and the castle of Tardes.

The construction coincides with the economic peak of Saint-Macaire at the end of the 13th century, key city to monitor the river traffic of wheat and wine on the Garonne. During the Hundred Years' War, the compound was the scene of repeated seats: in 1325, Edward II of England demanded local jurats that they resist the French; In 1377, the Duke of Anjou and Du Guesclin besieged the city, damaging the Porte-Neuve. The conflicts continued in the 15th century, with besiegants such as Henri V (1420) or Talbot (1453), before the city was ravaged during the Wars of Religion in 1562 by Protestant troops of Durfort de Duras.

In the 17th century, the enclosure played a health role during the plague of 1630, then was involved in the conflicts of the Fronde (1649), when the Duke of Epernon took the city after a nine-hour assault. The engravings of Leo Drouyn and the local sources (Billa, Virac) document these remains, now scattered around the city centre. Their preservation illustrates the strategic importance of Saint-Macaire, a commercial and military crossroads between Bordelais and Guyenne, marked by successive reconstructions after each destruction.

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