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The Tour de Ratières, built in the commune of Ratières in the north of the Drôme département of France, is a medieval tower once the keep of a castle. Approximately 15 metres high and hexagonal in plan, it overlooks the village and the surrounding plain.
The Tour de Ratières is a Carolingian tower protected as a monument historique since 21 October 1926 by the French Ministry of Culture. [1]
Excavations in 1993, at the time of important renovations, confirmed the existence of an earlier occupation of the site, possibly a motte-and-bailey castle.
The castle was organised around a 14th-century octagonal keep, notable for various features designed for comfort, traces of which can be discerned on the interior walls. The present ground floor was a cellar or prison. Access to the building was made on the first floor, where there are still traces of a fireplace and chimney. The second floor has a well-preserved latrine, and the third floor has large windows which could have functioned as lookout. The coussièges (window seats) would have been occupied by those keeping a watch over the comings and goings.
The castle is perched on a hillock and dominates a lower courtyard containing:
The castle has a garden designed by Paolo Tonini and created in 1993. Decorated with contemporary sculptures, visitors may, over an area of 5 hectares, see different gardens: an alley of rose trees, a medieval garden, rose garden, perennials garden, Italian garden. [2]
This article needs additional citations for
verification. (June 2015) |
The Tour de Ratières, built in the commune of Ratières in the north of the Drôme département of France, is a medieval tower once the keep of a castle. Approximately 15 metres high and hexagonal in plan, it overlooks the village and the surrounding plain.
The Tour de Ratières is a Carolingian tower protected as a monument historique since 21 October 1926 by the French Ministry of Culture. [1]
Excavations in 1993, at the time of important renovations, confirmed the existence of an earlier occupation of the site, possibly a motte-and-bailey castle.
The castle was organised around a 14th-century octagonal keep, notable for various features designed for comfort, traces of which can be discerned on the interior walls. The present ground floor was a cellar or prison. Access to the building was made on the first floor, where there are still traces of a fireplace and chimney. The second floor has a well-preserved latrine, and the third floor has large windows which could have functioned as lookout. The coussièges (window seats) would have been occupied by those keeping a watch over the comings and goings.
The castle is perched on a hillock and dominates a lower courtyard containing:
The castle has a garden designed by Paolo Tonini and created in 1993. Decorated with contemporary sculptures, visitors may, over an area of 5 hectares, see different gardens: an alley of rose trees, a medieval garden, rose garden, perennials garden, Italian garden. [2]