Tour Bayart Saillon

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The Bayart tower, towering over the Rhone Valley, owes its name to a lady named Bayart, who owned the land. Not to be confused with the fearless knight Bayard, without fear or reproach. This keep stands at 19 meters high for a diameter of nearly 10 meters and was built around 1260 by architect Pierre Meinier on demand of Count Peter II of Savoy. A metal staircase allows access to the floor above the gate and from there, via the staircase incorporated into the wall thickness, one reaches the summit where the view is unparalleled, sweeping a panorama from Martigny to Sion. The summit of the building was once covered with a wooden roof. Exceptionally, the keep is not built within the walls of the castle located on the nearby hill, too small to accommodate both a keep and living quarters simultaneously. This particular situation necessitated the construction to the west of a defensive line formed by 3 semi-towers connected by a rampart with a walkway.