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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Winner's Gate, also known as the Planol Gate, is a medieval gate built between 1222 and 1229 during the construction of the Cordes-sur-Ciel bastide. It belonged to the city's second fortified enclosure, designed to protect the city. This gate was a strategic defence work, integrated into a system of successive ramparts built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The door opens on the side of a tower, along the axis of the ramparts, and imposes a right corner turn on the street that crosses it. Its arch in the middle of the hangar is surmounted by a window, and a groove of harrow, always visible, bears witness to its defensive role. An archery tilted down reinforced the protection against the assailants crossing the barbacan. The interior façade, on the city side, has been redesigned and rebuilt into wooden panels.

The door is flanked by a tower followed by a false tower, both made of cut stone, while the interior façade was reshaped in half-timber. Classified as a historical monument by decree of 20 June 1923, it is today the inalienable property of the Society of Friends of the Old Cords. Its current state reflects both its past military use and subsequent adaptations related to the urbanization of Cordes-sur-Ciel.

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