En un regard
Le château en bref
The Château du Castellas, in Saint-Bonnet-de-Salendrinque (Gard), occupies a rocky spur within a bend of the Salendrinque, on the site of a Roman oppidum linked to the exploitation of gypsum. A Carolingian fortress was founded there in 864; the Gausfredi lords became vassals of the House of Anduze in 1042, and the castle is mentioned in 1142 among the possessions of the Bishop of Nîmes. Passing to Pierre de Barre, a knight companion of Guillaume de Nogaret, then to the Bucelli, Vignolles and Urcières families, it underwent major embellishments between 1617 and 1621 under Isabeau des Urcières, sole owner from 1596: two towers were heightened, one in 1617, the other in 1620. Damaged during the Revolution in 1792, it became national property in 1794, then served as a silkworm-rearing house (magnanerie) before falling into disrepair; it was saved and restored from 1973 onwards. With an L-shaped plan built around a square keep, it retains barrel-vaulted and pointed (ogival) vaulted rooms, fine mullioned windows, an original paved guard room, bread ovens, and an octagonal vault with a minimal keystone.