Pérouges

To cross Pérouges is to go from the Porte d'En Haut to the Porte d'En Bas. The village has indeed kept its medieval ramparts. The fortified church still stands, with its wall walk, arrow slits and keystones bearing the arms of Savoy. The wind of the Revolution nevertheless blew here, as shown by the great lime tree that shades the Place de la Halle: this tree of liberty was planted in October 1792.

The Middle Ages and Renaissance are still very present: two thirteenth-century half-timbered dwellings, a Gothic gallery and a sundial. The Rue des Rondes, whose central channel was meant to collect waste water, recalls a time when "keeping the high ground" had a literal meaning. It is lined with Renaissance façades and weavers' houses. From the Promenade des Terreaux, you also glimpse the justice sergeant's house and its prison tower.

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