Photo : Cosal / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Donjon de Pons
The emblem of this quiet little town in the Charente-Maritime, the medieval keep of Pons recalls a time when the town had real influence over the region. A first keep was razed in the 12th century on the orders of Richard the Lionheart, to curb the Saintonge people's ambitions of independence. The lord of Pons, Geoffroy III, promptly had a new keep built between 1180 and 1185: this imposing structure, like an impregnable rectangular block of stone, still dominates the town centre from its height of 30 metres.
An austere defensive structure, the keep was given the crenellations and machicolations at its top in the early 20th century. Access is free. From the keep, which houses the tourist office, visitors can explore the old town along the rampart walk and then, through winding lanes, reach the Church of Saint-Vivien, in the 12th-century Saintonge style and altered many times.
