Built in a grid style based on plans imposed by Dom Raynier Lascaris, the prior of Lérins and lord of Vallauris during the habitation act of 1501. The fortifications here aren’t ramparts in the strict sense of the world.

Rather, they’re houses, clustered side by side with a blind wall turned to face outwards, forming a line of defence.At each angle of the quadrilateral thus constructed was a tower.

One of the quirks of the village of Vallauris lies in the fact that two streets (the furthest north, Rue Soubrane, the present-day Rue Haute, and the Rue Soutrane to the south, the present-day Rue Clément Bel) formed a perfect straight line linking the two opposite gateways to the village.

These gateways and the vast majority of the towers were progressively destroyed as the village expanded beyond its original walls in order to make room for extra traffic. Squares emerged at each outer angle of the village.