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Origin and history

The tower of Veyrines, built in the 13th century in Mérignac, was originally the dungeon of a medieval castle today disappeared. Its foundations probably covered the fortified entrance of the enclosure, as evidenced by the traces still visible on its faces. In the 14th century, a new entrance was built, and its ground floor was transformed into a chapel in the 16th century, decorated with frescoes depicting religious and hagiographic scenes.

Ranked a Historical Monument in 1875, the tower owes its preservation to the Cassigni brothers, Italian geographers commissioned by Louis XIV. They used it as a map point when drawing up the first precise maps of the Kingdom of France. The chapel on the ground floor, accessible by a corridor originally designed as an entrance passage, was murmured at the end of the 14th century to house religious services.

The seigneury of Veyrines, whose tower was the symbol, belonged to the city of Bordeaux. Faithful to the crown of France, it was besieged by the English in 1242 before falling under English domination in 1274, and then finally returned to the French giron after the Battle of Castillon (1453). The tower, privately owned by the Moulet de la Raitrie family, preserves characteristic defensive elements such as mâchicoulis and bolts for the sols of an old drawbridge.

Located near the Ontines Creek, near the Eyquems College, the tower illustrates medieval military architecture girondine. His murals, although partially erased, offer a rare testimony of 16th century local religious art. The site, although private, remains a major historical marker of Mérignac, linked to its winemaking past and its strategic role in the Franco-English conflicts in Aquitaine.

The surrounding area, marked by the presence of the Devèze and other streams now channeled, was once a prosperous agricultural and wine-growing area. The Veyrines tower, with its turbulent history, embodies the political and social transformations of the region, from the medieval seigneuries to the modern urbanization of Bordeaux.

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