This is an example of the classic water tower found throughout France. As with this one, there are often cell phone transmitters/receivers on top. I haven't been able to find out the history of the name itself, though. To most of us Anglophones, a château means a castle. My guess would be that since many castles have cylindrical towers not unlike these the name was applied to the water towers. Or maybe it just evolved because people like the rhyme of château ("cha-toh") and d'eau ("doh").
Hi Stuart, it was already called a castle by the Romans: "castellum divisorium" which designated a structure receiving water from an aqueduc and dividing it up among the different distribution channels. Some of them are beautifully painted but I haven't seen any in the Loire.
ReplyDeleteA bit late, but thanks for the clarification.
DeleteI like the look of it, Stuart!
ReplyDelete