Uzès medieval garden and towers visitor guide

Photo of Uzès medieval garden and towers

Visit Uzès medieval garden and towers, France

The medieval garden and towers are in the centre of the historical town of Uzès, in Occitanie, where they originally formed part of one of the two castles in the town.

Discover the medieval garden and towers in Uzès

France This Way review: the small garden and the two medieval towers that you can climb in the centre of Uzès are an interesting place to visit, and you have a very nice view across the town from the top of one of the towers. I think that the towers are probably the highlight for most visitors, rather than the small garden

History of the Medieval Towers at Uzès

The medieval towers were built in the 11th - 13th centuries, as part of a castle called Raynon Castle. There was also a second castle called Bermond Castle in Uzès at that time (the Duke's Castle can still be visited, also in the centre of Uzès).

By the 15th century, the Bishops of Bermond Castle, and later King Charles VIII, had bought parts of the Raynon castle so there were now three different Lords controlling the three towers in Uzès: the Lord of Bermond, the King, and the Bishop. The towers we visit today in the garden are the King's Tower and the Bishop's Tower.

The towers all transferred to state ownership at the time of the revolution, and were used as a town prison until about 100 years ago. The medieval garden was created, and the towers opened to the public, at the end of the 20th century.

Visit the medieval gardens and towers of Uzès

You will start your visit with a walk around the gardens. This is a small garden, and only includes plants that were grown in medieval times, typically for their nutritional and health benefits, and also for dyeing cloth. It was only later that the idea of a garden as something grown for pleasure evolved.

Some of the plants in the garden are native to the south of France, and others were brought here along the trade routes from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

It is interesting to note that almost no records exist of real medieval gardens, so the current layout, used by many medieval gardens including this one at Uzès, may not exactly reresent the reality of these gardens 1000 years ago.

The first tower you ascend is the King's Tower. There are two large rooms inside the tower, now used for art exhibitions, and you finally reach the roof terrace, assuming you are able to walk up 100 steps of a steep and spiral staircase! From the terrace the views across the rooftops of Uzès are quite exceptional.

The second tower, called the Bishop's Tower, is entered via a small chapel and also contains rooms used as exhibition spaces. The main room contains some very interesting graffiti from the medieval period and later, when the tower was used as a prison. The belltower - best seen from the terrace of the King's Tower, was added to the Bishop's tower in the 19th century.

At the end of your visit, you have a chance to sit in the gardens with a tisane produced from the plants, provided without charge by the owners of the property.

Attractions nearby

The town of Uzès is a very impressive town with a large historic centre - see the Uzès guide for information for visitors.

See more gardens in France. You can find more travel ideas in the Gard guide and the Languedoc-Roussillon guide.

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The French version of this page is at Uzès medieval garden and towers (Francais)