Matafère Tower

About

The Matafère Tower is a tower built by Charlemagne around 790 near the site of the current Aigues-Mortes, to defend the coast. Its historical importance lies in the fact that it marks the beginning of the city's history, because at the time there was only fishermen and workers working in the salt marshes around it. The name of the tower would come from the stagnant waters surrounding it; Indeed, in the eighth century, the location where Aigues-Mortes was located was already above sea level, and it is not this one that explains the name of the tower.

It was long believed that it was on the site of this tower, later destroyed, that Saint Louis then built the Constance Tower. However, it is now accepted that this interpretation of the location of the tower was the result of an apocryphal act drafted by the monks of Psalmodi in order to legitimize certain territorial claims.