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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Auvillar Clock Tower, located on Rue de l'Horloge in the Tarn-et-Garonne, was built in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century under the reign of Louis XIV. It replaces an old fortified gate named Arnaud Othon, named after a local Viscount, and formerly equipped with a drawbridge. This stone and brick monument, characteristic of the transformed defensive architecture, symbolizes the urban evolution of this historic city linked to the Battle of the Garonne.

In 1934, a commemorative plaque was placed on its southern façade in homage to the troubadour Marcabrun, born in Auvillar, highlighting the city's cultural heritage. The tower, which was listed as historical monuments on 1 February 1978, houses a Gothic bell from the ancient Jacobin convent. Its three floors, accessible above a porch in the heart of the city, served as exhibition halls, including those of the Museum of the Skippers, now transferred.

Architecturally, the tower alternates stone and brick beds, with ropes marking the floors. Its wrought iron cage, rising above the roof, supports a bell decorated with medieval inscriptions. The porch and windows, right in the middle, reflect the stylistic influences of the time. A communal property, it embodies both Auvillar's defensive heritage and its role in regional river history, between Tarn and Garonne and Occitanie.

Historical sources, such as Monumentum and Wikipedia, confirm its origin as a vestige of the city's ramparts, while the Merimée base specifies its partial classification (facades and roofs). The tower, which is now open to the public, remains a testimony to urban transformations and batelière activities, which are the focus of the prosperity of Auvillar in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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