Sorèze - Saint-Martin

The "Tour St. Martin" was part of the parish church Saint-Martin, that got destroyed during the during the Wars of Religion in 1573. After having smashed the naves and burned down the nearby monastery - it may have seemed too laborious for the Huguenot troops, to tear down the massive tower. So it was left as a ruin.

The distance to Revel, where I would be picked up (and finish this walk for 2011), was only six kilometers, so I had time to "explore" the tower.

There are still a lot of (mostly damaged) carvings inside the tower. They all date back to the 15th century - and a surprise - lots of them depict mermaids! Here are two mermaids holding a coat of arms. Well, that coat of arms of course got dismanteled by the Huguenots troops. This was probably the moment, when the left mermaid lost her head, but her right comrade is still very intact. I first had the impression, that she was blindfolded, but that is just a strand of hair and a cobweb.

I will upload more mermaids from Sorèze later, but it will take some time..