Standing on a rocky outcrop at an altitude of 659 m, the Madeloc tower overlooking Collioure and the Côte Vermeille is part of a network of signal towers that, since the end of the 13th century, converged on the keep of the Palace of the Kings of Majorca in Perpignan.
Its ambition was to warn of the arrival of invaders, by smoke signals during the day and fire signals at night.
It was also used to signal the arrival of barbarian ships.
It communicated with its neighbors thanks to a system of fires, at night the fire being used as luminous signals, the day being used to produce smoke.
The villages of the Roussillon plain could all see the Massane tower, the twin tower of Madeloc.
Collioure, the Puig del Mas, the isolated farmhouses of the hills and valleys of the Côte Vermeille could not see it.
It is to prevent these inhabited places that Madeloc was built around 1290.
It was also connected with the Massane, Querroig and the other smaller towers that surround Banyuls.
The Madeloc Tower
The Madeloc Tower, with a height of 30 meters and a circumference of 25 meters, is formed by two floors crossed from the base by stairs with massive stone steps, sealed in the thickness of the wall.
The staircase leads to the terrace at the top where the watchmen and the fireman stood.
On the outside, there are also some loopholes.
Under the tower, a cistern collected rainwater thanks to a pipe that started from the terrace.
The tower is crowned by a belt of 22 brackets.
It was also called by the ancients the "devil's tower".
Today the Madeloc Tower has become a television relay for all those who, from Argelès to Cerbère, do not have a direct view of the Pic Neulos.
Madeloc Tower
66190 Collioure
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