To spot the Belfry of Carpentras, look above the rooftops and you’ll see a tall, heptagonal stone tower crowned with an intricate iron bell cage, peeking up above the square.
Now, let’s time travel together! You’re standing before the last survivor of Carpentras’ very first town hall-built in 1470, when three powerful consuls managed the city. Back then, the consuls each thought their hat was the fanciest, but today, it’s the Belfry showing off its crown of ironwork high above the Place de l’Horloge. Imagine the town buzzing with excitement and the sharp clack of tools as architect Blaise Lescuyer, who had already left his mark on the local cathedral, directed the workers raising this seven-sided tower.
This Belfry was more than just a fancy lookout-it once had a spiral staircase inside, leading up from the ground floor, where flour was weighed and stored, right up to the highest level where the city’s arsenal waited, ready for action. On the first floor, you’d find bustling council meetings, secret archives, and maybe a few heated arguments about taxes-sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
But in 1572, the city’s cathedral tower collapsed-no bells to ring! So, the solution? Add a new campanile on top and, in 1576, a huge bell sounded across the rooftops. Disaster struck again in 1713, when a roaring fire tore through the old town hall-but some of the city’s precious documents were saved, rushed out in a legendary Gothic chest with four locks that you can still admire in Carpentras’ museum.
After the fire, the Belfry stood alone, a silent witness to the city’s stories, its tower stretching through time and the changes of the Renaissance all the way to the 20th century. Since 1987, it’s been a protected historical monument-a reminder that sometimes, even in a city of change, stubborn stone and a good strong bell can keep history ringing on.
