iCyclades - Cyclades Discovery Guide

The Bellelay House, also known as "Cour de Berne" (Bern Court), was built in 1631 and was the cellar of the Prémontré Abbey of Bellelay until 1797. Before the correction of the Jura waters in the 19th century, a landing stage facilitated the direct transport of goods across the lake. The city of Bern, which owned a large part of the Neuveville vineyards, acquired the building in 1804 and today the cellar is a meeting place that can also be rented.

The Banneret fountains, which date from 1550, occupy both ends of Rue du Marché (Market Street), the heart of the medieval town. The banneret was originally a flag bearer in the militia of a prince, town or region and you can see such fountains in many of Switzerland's old towns.

The Banneret fountains, which date from 1550, occupy both ends of Rue du Marché (Market Street), the heart of the medieval town. Look at the base of the fountain shaft, which evokes the "city of seven towers" that La Neuveville was in the Middle Ages.

La Neuveville is located in the canton of Bern, right next to the Neuchâtel town of Le Landeron and on the shore of Lake Biel, but it is an entirely French-speaking town, with a picturesque old town and a beautiful lakeside promenade.

Seen from inside the old town, the Gate of Rive is nothing extraordinary, but the buildings that border it are remarkable. On the right is the House of Vignolans, which was once the headquarters of the winegrowers' guild. On the left, the former Temple du Lac, built in 1720 and directly integrated into the ramparts of the old town, is since 2004 the Café-Théâtre de la Tour de Rive.

As you might expect, this beautiful square in the heart of the city is an ideal setting for various events. However, when we shot the panoramas in September 2021, the square was deserted due to the pandemic and the end of the summer season.

At the very end of Place de la Liberté, Rue du Collège, lined with old houses, leads up to the main street (Grand-Rue).

Here we are facing the Tower of Rive, turning our backs on the underpass that leads to the lakeside. On the left, at the entrance to Rue du Port, is the old Maison de Bellelay. On the right, Place du Marché (Market Square) extends to the train station.

The oak door with its sturdy ironwork is decorated with the town's coat of arms. The cross engraved on the western buttress, 1.15 m above the ground, is said to indicate the level reached by the lake in 1634.

Behind us, Route du Château leads up to Plateau de Diesse, in the foothills of the Jura. Rue des Fossés on the left and Rue du Tempé on the right both lead to Grand-Rue (Main Street), where we take you along the small Tower Street (Rue de la Tour), which opens up right in front of us.

Here we turn our backs on the Castle Road, where our virtual stroll will soon end. In the distance we see the pointed roof of the Red Tower, which was once the northern gateway to the city.

Our virtual stroll begins (or ends) here, on the road leading to Schlossberg Castle. Built in the 13th century and restored in 1884 and 1931, this castle is a joint property of the municipality and the canton and has become a private residence, which cannot be visited.

Forbidden to traffic, this alley descends towards the Red Tower, the former northern gateway to the city, passes underneath it and ends up on Grand-Rue (Main Street), opposite Rue du Marché (Market Street).

La Neuveville was part of the bishopric of Basel from 999 onwards and the small fortified town was built by the prince-bishops at the beginning of the 12th century to prevent the Counts of Neuchâtel from expanding their territory to the east. To the left, an alley opens up along the former city walls.

The Red Tower was raised and given a bell-cast roof around 1593. It has a clock and the town's coat of arms on each side and can be visited as part of the town's guided tours.

Rue du Collège, parallel to Rue du Marché, links the main street (Grand-Rue) to Place de la Liberté, adjacent to the southern gateway to the city. Take a leisurely stroll down it and step back in time, some of the tightly packed houses date back to the 16th century!

Here we are looking towards the first Fountain of Banneret, with the Red Tower in the background. The Tourist Office is on our left, where you will find everything you need to organise your visit to La Neuveville and its region.

Turning our backs to the first fountain of the Banneret and the Red Tower, we follow the street towards the southern gate, the Tower of Rive, which leads to the lake shore.

We arrive at the second fountain of the Banneret and the Place de la Liberté (Freedom Square). The beautiful Louis XV style building at the corner of the square on the left was built in 1757-1758 and belongs to the same family since 1790. Its gargoyles have given it the name of "House of the Dragons".

At the very beginning of Rue du Port, we see the entrance to the Bern Court, or House of Bellelay. We will go in to admire the façade before continuing our walk along this street.

Rue du Port runs around the old town, following the line of the old walls, which have now disappeared. At the level of the old wall tower that you can see further on, it turns and goes up towards Grand-Rue (Main Street).

At the height of this tower, which once stood on the medieval enclosure, Rue du Port turns at right angles to join Grand-Rue (Main Street), but if you continue straight ahead along Rue du Lac, you can go to an underpass which leads to the large lakeside car park.

Rue du Port continues to follow the line of the old walls up to Grand-Rue (Main Street), allowing us to admire another medieval tower on the way.

Rue du Port joins Grand-Rue (Main Street) here. Go straight ahead to join Rue du Marché and the town centre. Behind us, the street becomes a road and leads to Neuchâtel.

Ruelle de la Tour Carrée (Square Tower Alleyway) runs alongside massive old buildings that evoke the ancient walls of the medieval town. The most imposing building in the city, the tower gives the impression of being a church... but it is not!

Built at the beginning of the 16th century on the site of an enclosure tower that was probably circular, the Tour Carrée (Square Tower) was to be the bell tower of a basilica that was never built: the Reformation, introduced in 1528, led to the confiscation of the Catholic Church's property and the temple remained unfinished.

In the middle of the north façade, an inscription in Gothic letters, "in the year of the Lord 1520, on the 21st day of the month of June", dates the completion of the construction, the work of a Franc-Comtois mason established in the town of La Neuveville.

Incredible but true: the Tour Carrée is a condominium: the ground floor belongs to the Bourgeoisie of the city, the central part is the property of the Municipality (which has installed the Museum of Art and History there) and the bell floor belongs to the Protestant parish (which leaves the maintenance of the bells to the good care of the city)

The alley passes under the Red Tower, the former northern gate of the city wall. The lower part of the tower dates back to the foundation of the town, around 1310, but its elevation and bell tower roof date back to the late 16th century.

The town, founded in 1312, had only two gates: the Tower of Rive to the south and the Red Tower to the north. This tower has retained the imprint of the 14th and 15th centuries, with three brackets supporting a machicolation.

The gates of medieval towns often face the trade routes. In La Neuveville, where one would expect a Neuchâtel Gate to the west and a Biel Gate to the east, the doors are on the lake side (here at the Tower of Rive) and on the mountain side (the Red Tower).