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Origin and history

The medieval wall of Blois, built in the 13th century, surrounded the city over 2.2 km to protect its neighborhoods (Bourg-Moyen, Puits-Châtel, castle) and its 20 hectares. It included 16 towers (including Beauvoir, Guise, Foix) and 11 gates, such as Porte Chartraine to Chartres or Porte Saint-Fiacre to Orléans. The castle, included in the enclosure, served as the last bulwark to the west, with a wall separation towards Bourg-Moyen.

Before this rampart, Blois was protected by Gallo-Roman walls (I–V centuries), Bretons (Vth century, under Ivomadus), then Franks (VIth–IX centuries), destroyed by pirate raids. Medieval construction began west around 1250, attested by charters of 1270 and 1284 mentioning repairs under Countess Jeanne. The enclosure was extended to the 14th–15th centuries to include the Saint Laumer Abbey and the Cordeliers convent.

Dismantled in 1789 to urbanize the city (a combination of the Arrou, creation of the docks), the fortifications lost their doors and part of their walls. Only 7 towers remain (Beauvoir, Guise, Cordeliers, Foix), classified as historical monuments in 1942. Their memory persists in the name of the streets (Porte Chartraine, Remparts) and the current urban organization.

The remains illustrate the defensive evolution of Blois, from a Gallo-Roman city to a strategic medieval crossroads. The defensive architectures and structures of the towers bear witness to their military role, while the destroyed doors reflect the revolutionary and industrial transformations of the eighteenth century.

The enclosure closely linked the castle — a comtal residence — to the commercial and religious districts, stressing its dual use: protection and control of commercial axes (Loire, roads to Chartres, Orléans, Tours). Its dismantling marked the transition from a closed town to an open agglomeration, adapted to modern needs.

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