Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor
FortressHidden Treasure
Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor, located in Joué-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Fort
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Joué-lès-Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.3601, 0.6679
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00097794
An unusual vestige nestling in a Touraine park, this 18th-century cylindrical tower, rebuilt on the foundations of a former windmill, embodies the architectural fantasy of the late Ancien Régime.
© Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia
History
In the heart of a residential park in Joué-lès-Tours, the Maucannière tower - also known as the Clos Saint-Victor tower - stands like an anachronistic, silent and almost incongruous witness in the midst of the private gardens that surround it. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1951, it belongs to that rare category of structures that owe their survival as much to the chance of history as to the determination of a few heritage enthusiasts. What makes this monument truly singular is its constructional history: the tower is not an authentic medieval fortification, but an 18th-century remodelling, erected on the foundations of a former windmill and converted into a pleasure flat by notarial deed in 1766. This conversion testifies to a pronounced taste, widespread in the second half of the 18th century, for garden factories and picturesque buildings combining utility with ornament. The tower became a dwelling, a belvedere and the centrepiece of a landscaped setting. The parkland of Clos Saint-Victor is now partially subdivided, but the tower is still surrounded by greenery, allowing visitors to appreciate its size and isolated character. A few steps away, a neo-classical château built in the 1890s is a reminder that this estate was a prestigious aristocratic property in the Belle Époque, belonging to the Count of Sabran-Pontevès. A visit to this monument is aimed above all at lovers of discreet heritage, at those who prefer to discover things by the side of the road to the crowds of major tourist sites. The Maucannière tower does not offer regular guided tours, but it can be admired from the edge of the park, revealing its cylindrical silhouette in a wooded setting characteristic of the Loire Valley.
Architecture
The Maucannière tower has a circular floor plan, a direct legacy of the windmill foundations on which it was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. This cylindrical plan, typical of tower mills in the Centre-Val de Loire region, gives the building its characteristic silhouette: a massive, squat shaft with a few openings, probably topped by a conical or pavilion roof, in the tradition of rural buildings in the Touraine region. The materials used are those of local 18th-century construction: tuffeau, the soft white limestone so characteristic of the Loire Valley, was probably used for the frames and finishing elements, while rubble stone masonry ensured the solidity of the load-bearing walls. Inside, the conversion to flats in 1766 involved the creation of successive floors, an internal staircase and habitable rooms, radically transforming the original functionality of the milling structure. The ensemble is in keeping with vernacular architecture reinterpreted with a decorative eye, with no pretensions to the great classical orders, but with an obvious quest for the picturesque and the original. In its current landscape context, the tower sits alongside the park's century-old trees and the buildings of the neighbouring fin-de-siècle château, forming a heterogeneous ensemble that is steeped in memory.
Related Figures
Le comte de Sabran-Pontevès — propriétaire du domaine à la fin du XIXe siècle, commanditaire du château des années 1890Le propriétaire anonyme de 1766 — commanditaire de la réédification de la tour et de son aménagement en appartement, acteur de la transformation pittoresque du siteLes meuniers médiévaux de la Maucannière — exploitants du moulin à vent originel dont les fondations ont survécu à travers les siècles
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor located?
Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor is located in Joué-lès-Tours, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor built?
Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor open to visitors?
Tour de la Maucannière, ou du Clos Saint-Victor is currently closed to visitors.