Beffroi de Montbrun les bains

The watchtower is the main military structure of the ancient citadel: it commanded the south-east corner of the fortifications, of which fine remains can still be seen, a little chipped by time and the borrowing of a few stones, climbing the rock to the castle. The tower was erected in a strategic location as a defensive, surveillance and perhaps prestige structure, topped with machicolations and pierced with openings and battlements designed to project arrows, boiling water and other tricks to discourage potential attackers.
The original Gothic pointed-arch vault is, as we have seen, still fitted with its portcullis slide.
The structure is typical of 13th-century military architecture and bears witness to the age of the fortified village. A witness to the medieval wars, it has survived intact but without its roof, which is still visible on an engraving dating from 1854.
Now a clock tower colonized by a flock of pigeons, it peacefully ticks away the Montbrun hours ten minutes ahead of time, echoing the angelus sounded by the church bell.
The Belfry Gate opens onto a space that rests largely on a high infrastructure of large load-bearing arches, visible from afar, and probably built in the 19th century to enlarge a square that long remained the most important in the village.