Beucheresse Gate

You’re standing in front of the Beucheresse Gate, the last fortified gate still standing from Laval’s medieval walls. Picture the 13th century, when the town was encircled by a wall over a kilometer long, lined with twenty-seven towers and pierced by three main gates. Beucheresse is the only one that remains today, a rare witness to the time when entering Laval meant passing through a narrow, guarded, and defended gateway. Its name is thought to come from the “beûchers,” the woodcutters who came down from the forest of Concise to deliver firewood to town. This is where they entered, loaded with goods, following the rampart toward the heart of Laval. Look at its outline: two large twin towers frame the arched passage. This kind of fortified entry served both to filter arrivals and to protect the town. Looking up, it’s easy to imagine guards ready to lock the gate and control who came through. Just a few steps away, the line of the old walls still reminds us of the strategic importance of this area, linking the lower town with Old Laval. But the Beucheresse Gate doesn’t only tell a military story. In 1844, it was here that a child was born who would later become famous: Henri Rousseau, better known as the Douanier Rousseau, a leading figure of naïve painting. A plaque on the right-hand tower recalls his birthplace. It’s hard not to smile at the thought that this artist, whose exotic jungle scenes now hang in the world’s greatest museums, was born right here in a medieval tower. Classified as a Historic Monument since 1931, the gate has undergone regular restorations, and in 2022 it even received support from the Mission Bern. Today, the inside isn’t always open to visitors, but plans are underway to restore access to the public.