Provins
Medieval Fair Town Of The Counts Of Champagne With Ramparts, The Tour CéSar Keep And Underground Passages; Provins, Town Of Medieval Fairs, UNESCO World Heritage Site Inscribed 2001 · Provins, Ile-de-France
Provins was one of the great fair towns of medieval Europe. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Counts of Champagne held trading fairs here that drew merchants from Flanders to Italy, and the town grew rich on cloth, wool and money-changing. When the fairs moved on, Provins stopped growing, and its upper town kept much of its medieval shape. It was listed by UNESCO in 2001 as the Town of Medieval Fairs. The ville haute is ringed by long stretches of rampart with gates such as the Porte Saint-Jean, and is crowned by the Tour César, a twelfth-century keep with an odd octagonal shape. Below the streets run underground passages and cellars, visited on guided tours, and the tithe barn shows how the fairs worked. In season there are knights' shows and birds of prey displays, and in June a large medieval festival. The town is also known for its rose, used in jams, sweets and honey. It is a day trip from Paris by train, busy on summer weekends and very quiet in winter.
Ville Haute, Provins, Seine-et-Marne, Provins, Ile-de-France, France
The streets, squares and ramparts of Provins can be walked at any time, but the monuments and shows keep seasonal hours. The Tour César, the tithe barn, the underground passages and the town museum are usually open every day from spring to autumn, roughly from late March or April to early November, from the morning until the late afternoon or early evening, and on weekends and school holidays for the rest of the year with shorter hours, confirm. The underground passages can only be seen on guided tours that leave at set times and have limited places, so check the timetable at the tourist office on arrival. The knights' show, the birds of prey show and the siege show on the ramparts run from about spring to autumn on a published schedule, several times a day in summer and mainly on weekends in spring and autumn, confirm. The medieval festival takes place over a weekend in June, when the town is packed and some areas need a ticket, confirm. A combined pass covering several sites is sold at the tourist office. Many shops and restaurants in the upper town close early or for whole days in winter. Trains from Paris run all year but less often at weekends.