Aigues-Mortes

Just outside the boundaries of the park is where you’ll find Aigues Mortes, a magnificent 13^th century Medieval walled town that’s worth spending an entire day exploring. This place is incredible! Built by Louis IX, this was the very first French port on the Mediterranean and became the main springboard for French Crusades. Up until then, the Kingdom of France utilised the neighbouring Italian ports but steep fees enticed King Louis to build his own port instead.  The town’s walls are exceptionally intact, they span 1634 metres, boast 20 towers, and 10 arched gates. Set aside two hours to walk the walls (entry tickets cost 9 Euros). Islamic architectural influence is palpable throughout the town and testament to the thriving trade, at its inception, between East and West. Aigues Mortes, whose marvellous name derives from the stagnant, salty swamps that surround it, was a haven for Protestants throughout much of the 16th and 17th centuries and its towers used as prisons for those unwilling to convert to Roman Catholicism in the late 1600s. After Provence and Marseille were annexed by the Kingdom of France, Aigues Mortes lost much of its trading prominence, yet its strategic location meant it never lost its military prowess.