Rooftops - Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes (literally "Dead Waters") was built in the 13th century as the French Port on the Mediterranean. It is an almost rectangular walled city. The walls are intact, and visitors can walk around the ramparts, as we did. All the buildings inside, except the churches, are 3 stories at the most, leaving views across the rooftops for those walking the walls.

In the 1200s, France controlled only a narrow strip of land leading to the Mediterranean sea. It was a smaller country than it is now, controlling neither Provence in the south-east nor Languedoc, Rousillon and Aquitaine in the west.

Aigues-Mortes did not last long as a port: the silting of the Rhone delta saw to that, leaving the city bypassed by history after about 1300.