‘Rue du Beffroy’ in nowadays Besse en Chandesse starts from the ‘Chemin de Ronde’ at ‘Place du Petit Mèze’, and leads to ‘Place de la Gayme’. The street owes its name to the belfry, built above the only gateway to the town in Medieval times to control the flow of people and goods. In the 15th century the free town was administered by two elected Consuls and was fortified to cope with insecurity and resist lootings. The fortifications were destroyed in 1790.