Massane Tower
The Massane Tower is an ancient signal tower located in the Albères Mountains of Southern France, west of the Mediterranean commune of Argeles-sur-Mer. The kings of Majorca built a network of watchtowers in the thirteen-century as an early warning defense system to scan the sea and coastal plains for potential invaders. Communication codes were transmitted throughout the kingdom using fire during the night and smoke during the day.
The Massane Tower stands on a rocky crest that rises to a height of 2,605 feet with unobstructed 360-degree views. Other towers in the network include the Madeloc Tower in Banyuls-sur-Mer, Mir Tower near Arles-sur-Tech, the Tautavel Tower in the Corbières, and the Goa Tower near Vernet-les-Bains.
Located deep into the National Natural Preserve of the Massane Forest, this tower was difficult to build, erected out of stone on a high narrow rocky crest. The tower had two levels with a crenellated terrace. The entrance door to the existent ground level is a lintel with double corbels. The structure included loopholes in the walls and a narrow passageway on the first floor.
The tower remained a lookout tower for centuries. In 1728, a garrison of French soldiers camped in La Place d'Armes' and the sentry took turns watching the coastline through its loopholes and observation platform. ?After seven hundred years of service, restoration efforts began in the 1980s though the work is still unfinished. The Massane and other towers remain sentinels relics of Catalan culture, displaying an important historical presence within the plains of Roussillon and the Mediterranean coastline.
Researched and written by Virginia Vanneman, Graduate Student in the Department of History, University of West Florida.
