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Origin and history

The ramparts of Aigues-Mortes form a brickwork enclosure built in the 13th century to protect the new city founded by Louis IX. The territory, bought from the abbey of Psalmodi between 1240 and 1248, was signed in 1246. The tower of Constance (then called the tower of the king), built between 1241 and 1249, marks the first phase of defense, followed by the development of the port to facilitate land and sea access.

The construction of the ramparts began in 1272 under Philip III the Hardi, through a contract with Genoese Guglielmo Boccanegra, which would provide 5,000 books tournaments to finance the walls and the port. Boccanegra died in 1274, and his heirs cancelled the agreement, leaving the work unfinished. In 1289, Philip IV the Bel re-launched the construction site via a corrective estimate to speed up construction, while 650 meters of courtyards remained to be built.

The third phase, at the end of the 13th century, includes the Carbonnière Tower. In 1300, the enclosure extends over 1,600 meters around the tower of Constance. The ramparts, 11 metres high and 1,640 metres long, have ten gates and fifteen towers. Their exceptional state of conservation illustrates the adaptation of military architecture to the marshy constraints of the Camargue.

Ranked historic monuments from 1903, the ramparts and the tower of Constance symbolize the strategic role of Aigues-Mortes as royal port for crusades and Mediterranean trade. The site also includes Crown plots protected by successive stops (1921-1964). A local legend evokes Lou drapé, a fabulous horse who would have walked through the ramparts every night to protect lost children.

Archaeological and historical sources (Labande, Fliche, Sournia) underline the importance of ramparts as a model of planned medieval urban planning, linked to the Capetian desire to control direct maritime access from the Kingdom of France.

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