Walking Along the Walls of Provins

The walls of the medieval town of Provins are one of the defining features of this charming town. At that time, Provins was a very prosperous town brought about by the Champagne Fairs. It is basically the equivalent of the modern day tradeshow. As a result, the town of Provins grew. However, it didn’t really happen by chance, the walls of Provins served as the security for the merchants who came here for the fairs. After all, how can you concentrate on making money when you have to worry a lot about your safety. The walls at that time were more extensive than what we see now. I remember when we entered the town of Provins from the direction of the railway station that there wasn’t a wall. It seems that the wall now stands on the northwest corner of the town.

I convinced my companions to walk along the walls. For some reason, this didn’t seem to occur to them. I was just thinking that this is one of the signature sights of Provins and I wouldn’t want to miss this. The walls seem to go off to a rather remote part of the town which made my companions lose interest. However, as we approached the wall, it became quite interesting. The walls themselves were quite well preserved. There is a small road which is a the base of the wall. From photos I see that this is also the site of the annual medieval fair they still hold here. It is nice to see the tradition continued but I think it is now more commercial. Then again, the old fairs were also commercial in nature.

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