MARTEL
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The rich history of Martel, Town of the Seven Towers, is reflected
in its magnificent architectural heritage. Aroyal Seneschlship in the middle
ages, ( seat of a royal Court of Appeal until 1790 ), it was awarded a Charter
of Franchise in 1219 and ruled by four Consuls. The Viscounts of Turenne
held their High Court in the Hôtel de la Raymondie, built at the turn
of the 13 th c. by Bernard Raymondie, son of Raymond IV, Viscount of Turenne. |
| Henry 'Short Coat', son of Henry II of England, sought
refuge in Martel after the revolt against his father and the sacking of
Rocamadour, and died there in 1183 in an agony of remorse for his sacrilegious
conduct. Safe behind its double remparts, the town was occupied by the English
from 1360 to 1374 only after the Treaty of Bretigny, then liberated by De
Guesclin. |
| It was Louis XV who finally attached Martel to the french crown
in1738. In the main square, the 18 th c. covered market is surrounded by
the façades of medieval buildings, and a stroll through the narrow
streets with their shoulder-to-shoulder upper stories reveals a treasure
of ancient town houses. The 13 th and 14 th c. church of St Maur, a fortified
Gothic structure is all battlements and buttresses from the outside, but
beautiful 16 th c. stained glass windows, (attributed to the De Mole school),
paintings and statues on the inside. The tympanum is a 12 th c. Romanesque
primitive reproduction of the Last Supper. |
