Castles to visit Provence-Alpes-Côte D'Azur

The origin of the castle of Crémat dates from the Roman Empire. At that time, at the place «Li Plana di Mari», known in the region for the cultivation of olive trees and vines, a legion moved and took life. Galleries are built to make food, olive oil and wine. At the beginning of the th century, the wine merchant Antoine Mari built on these galleries, a medieval castle characterized by its imposing tower of machicolated and its rococos ornaments. This wine enthusiast, renaître the vineyard of Bellet and uses the ancient Roman galleries as cellars. In 1941, Bellet wines obtained the appellation AOC. Since 2001, Dutch Cornelis Kamerbeek has been the owner of the castle. Its aim is to rehabilitate the vineyard so that it finds its historic area of 25 ha. Today are the works of expansion, modernisation of cellars, the installation of new sales and tasting rooms. Please note that the castle is also a place of reception.

The old feudal castle dominates the village of Xiith. You will see the remains of two round towers as well as several crosspieces windows. This monument, which is very dilapidated, dates back to the th century.

The high tower, built on a tomb, is located in a place suitable for monitoring the valley, and where the defence is facilitated by three sides on the steep slope. Here the houses were built on one side, thus benefiting from the protection of the castle. The oblong tower is raised on the side of the attack and flat side, rather rare for a medieval dungeon. Forming a kind of shield, the wall of the rounded part is very thick (approximately two metres). The entrance door is also a few meters high. Today, through the reconstruction of the tower and the absence of a boulin hole, it is impossible to know whether there is a wooden bridge, a removable scale or a round road.

The small castle of Bruis was erected in 1669. Today, there is only one circular tower at the north-west angle. Apart from this special feature, it consists of a simple body of storey houses on which two wings of common buildings are combined. The court is closed by a wall in return, closing the castral universe. This symbolic building of local power succeeds the th century quadrangular tower on the nearby hill. The latter, which has long secured the protection of the primitive village of Bruis lying at its feet, was built in flat stone laid on the widest bed. With the advent of modern times, the fortifications have left room for buildings that allow for the exercise of an agricultural activity, thus ensuring the master of places, domination based on material prosperity, and not on weapons.

Chabestan has two castles. The first seems to be dating from the th century. It is composed of a body of accommodation, once stretched with four towers. The other castle also includes a large body of accommodation, located on the bottom of a large courtyard. On the left there are stables and discounts on its right, a chapel dedicated to Saint Antoine de Padua. It was founded and built around 1650 by Jacques Amat, former lord of the village.

It is on a nipples near the village you will find the ruins of the old Seigneurial castle of Vitrolles called the Châtelart. It was formerly composed of two parts. The first, older, was only a tower, built with a well-appareillées cubic stone and camée on the highest point of the hill in the th century. Below you will see a large construction of the th century whose plan appears to have been an elongated parallelogram with a round tower at each angle. In the th century it will be added a building body that saillie on the facade. On a mound, near the Plan-de-Vitrolles, the remains of a castle built in small stones reign, as well as the debris of an old castle on the sides of the adjacent mountain. An elevation crowned by the beautiful ruins of the convent of Donzard, formerly belonging to the Templar, is visible to the north-west of the church of Upper Vitrolles. See also: the church of the Plan Plan, dedicated to the nativity, and the church of Vitrolles, dedicated to Saint Michel.

With its imposing silhouette and its two towers, it is difficult to miss! Obviously built after the medieval period, in rolled pebbles from the Durance, it was largely reworked by the De Fulque family, originally from Valensole and owner of the Marquisate of Oraison from 1720 onwards. This family kept it more or less until the Revolution and the building was devastated in 1792. It was then raised by one floor and transformed into a silkworm farm. Louis Pasteur was ordered by the State to come here in 1868 to study the silkworm disease called pebrine.

The château looks more like a bourgeois residence than a real castle. In fact, it dates from the first half of the 19th century. Its predecessor, that of the Vassadel family, was destroyed during the French Revolution. A few 16th-century features remain, such as a tower pierced by fire hydrants and a room vaulted with a pointed arch. The lords of Vacqueras were already identified as the Vassadel family in 1338. More than 300 years of presence, even if in recent years it was the viguier who administered the small community. Unfortunately, this castle cannot be visited.

In 1236, the Count of Forcalquier granted the castle to his vassals Pierre and Guillaume Jourdan. In 1388, it became a refuge for a third of the population when Bastide des Jourdans was fortified against danger. A 1555 inventory describes a relatively modest building that retains its original medieval structure, with a ^13th-century base belonging to the Jourdan brothers. The square tower and main building were erected in the late ^14th and early ^15th centuries. Between 1530 and 1790, the Astouard and Coriolis families successively owned and renovated the property. The last lord, Joseph de Coriolis, died in 1784. At the end of the ^19th century, a painter and notary (ancestor of the current owner) bought it and restored it to its current state. Today, Château de la Bastide des Jourdans is privately owned and not open to visitors, except on rare occasions.

Château de La Verdière, located in the commune of La Verdière in the Var department, is a listed historic site. Built in the Xᵉ century, it is the largest château in Provence by surface area. The château also features temporary exhibitions and a history of a renaissance.