Château de Gréoux-les-Bains

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Gréoux-les-Bains, commonly known as the Château des Templiers (Templars' Castle) even though no evidence links it to the Knights Templar, overlooks the village from a promontory in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The oldest stones on the site, probably taken from a church, date back to the 12th century. The present fortress is attributed to Arnaud de Trian, nephew of Pope John XXII, and is thought to date from 1325 according to a dendrochronological analysis of its roof timbers. Charles II, Count of Provence, ceded the seigneury to the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1307, before it passed to several seigneurial families, including the Glandevès and later the Clapiers, until the Revolution. Quadrilateral in plan, the building has a north façade pierced by an arched gateway and flanked by two towers: a square tower known as the "Saracen tower" and a round tower converted into a dovecote. A gate once connected the castle to the village below. Having become national property during the Revolution, it was listed as a historic monument (classé) in 1840. Counted among the largest castles in Provence, alongside the Palais des Papes in Avignon, it is the subject of a restoration programme; the guardroom now hosts exhibitions open to the public.