Site officiel de la ville et de la Communauté d'Agglomération du Carcassonnais
This is the last survivor of the four gates built in the fortifications that once encircled the lower town, built between 1355 and 1359. The gate was rebuilt as we see it today, on its original site, in 1779. The lower town was assigned the walls, towers, moat, ramparts and parapet walkway under the terms of a Council Ruling dated 31st March 1778.
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N.B. The construction of the present Jacobins' Gate dates from 1779. Four projects were submitted to the Mayor, Consuls and King's Prosecutor, with Messrs. Siman, Alibert and Pech seconded for this purpose. On 12th February 1778, in accordance with the report tabled by the Mayor, Mr. Dupré, preference was given to one of the plans filed by Mr. Dalbeau, Architect and Town Inspector. A tender was granted on 8th May to Mr. Pagnon from Saint-Paul de Fenouillet, with a guarantee from Messrs. Pierre and Hugues Bernard, masons and stone cutters from Voisins. The cost had been estimated at 8,238 livres.
The coat-of-arms was not included in this tender since the Council had reserved the right to commission the most skilled craftsman for this task. After a competition, Mr. Parant, a sculptor from Carcassonne, agreed on 27th September 1779, to carve it for 400 livres. The external shield bearing the royal arms was 10 feet high and 9 feet wide; it included the cords of the Orders of St. Louis and St. Michael.
The frame consisted of laurel branches which replaced the palms included in the original project. The coat-of-arms inside the gate, which was slightly smaller, showed the town's arms and was topped by a Count's coronet flanked by laurel branches. The coats-of-arms have now worn away.
L. Riba – Historique sommaire et origines des propriétés de la Ville de Carcassonne – 1948.
Site Officiel de l'Office de Tourisme et de la ville de Carcassonne - www.carcassonne.org
Site Officiel de l'Office de Tourisme et de la ville de Carcassonne - www.carcassonne.org