Porte Noël

The lower town was first fortified in the 10th century. The ramparts of the upper town date from the 12th century. But at the beginning of the 15th century, the ramparts only protected about one fifth of the population. The Hundred Years' War was far from over and the great companies, armed bands acting mostly on their own account, devastated towns and countryside.
It was impossible to enclose the two parts of the city. A court convened by the Bailiff of Sens decided in favour of the lower town. The new enclosure, completed in 1421, sixteen years after the beginning of the work, had twenty-nine towers, three main doors, three posterns and two passages with portcullis giving on the reach.

Jehan Noël, a master mason who worked on the construction of the ramparts, left his name to the southern gate, also called the Saint Pierre gate, because it opened onto the suburb of the same name. The current round towers date from 1775 or 1778. The previous ones, more powerful, were linked by a vault giving onto a guardroom from where the chains of the drawbridge were operated.