The Saint-Yrieix ramparts

What you see before you are the old fortifications of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche. Instead of a protective wall as such, the upper city was enclosed and protected by the continuous line of house façades.

All the important buildings and places in Saint-Yrieix could be found inside this very restricted enclosure bordered by steep slopes. The church, the cemetery, the Tour du Plô and houses belonging to the canons and families of knights could be found in this enclosed part of the upper city. Outside the enclosure, the suburbs were covered in groves, meadows and forests, with a few peripheral stronghold houses in between.

Two gates could be used to enter the medieval city: the porte des Hors in the north and the porte des Barris in the south, near where the marketplace is today.