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History of the Tour Grise – Canon’s house of Puy Notre Dame

La Tour Grise is a 15th-century manor house located within the old ramparts of the medieval town.

It is one of 13 Canons’ houses listed in Puy Notre Dame at that time. Its tower, characteristic of the style of these houses, houses a beautiful stone spiral staircase.

The porch is topped by a dovecote with 40 boulins (a boulin is defined as a hole in the wall of a dovecote used as a nest for pigeons. Although it has never been proven, it is accepted that the number of boulins is used to calculate the surface area of the estate on which the dovecote is located). The courtyard also houses a well in its center, at least 25m deep.

Extended in the 17th century, it was successively a winegrower’s house for many years, then a secular girls’ school from 1850 to 1877. It then belonged to the same family for 90 years before being sold to a notary, whose office was in the buildings along the road. Since 1996, the Tour Grise has once again been used as a winegrower’s dwelling.