Castle Map

Ruin

Tours de Merle

France

Heritage status
classified historical monument
Location
Saint-Geniez-ô-Merle
Visitors
≈20,000 (2007)
Coordinates
45.06417°, 2.07472°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Tours de Merle in France
Photo: Stéfan Le Dû · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

The Tours de Merle ('Towers of Merle') are the ruins of a castle in the commune of Saint-Geniez-ô-Merle, in the Corrèze département of France.

A feudal fortress from the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, which was subject of a classification as a historic monument since July 30, 1927.

In the fourteenth century, Merle included seven castles, two chapels and village, owned by seven noblemen from Merles.

During the Hundred Years' War, the English took one of the towers and a castle in 1371.

In 1574 the Calvinists took the citadel, where they established a garrison, they were driven out two years later by the co-lords. But the fortress was abandoned by those who preferred to live in places that were more pleasant and certainly more accessible.

Text adapted from “Tours de Merle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Tours de Merle ranks #6,264 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #553 of the 954 mapped in France. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,341 times in the last 60 days, more than 64% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 20,000 visitors in 2007. It is stop 33 of 33 on the Dordogne castle route, Bergerac to Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

Castles nearby

More castles in France