Château de Tarascon
| Château de Tarascon | |
|---|---|
| Part of Tarascon, France | |
| Bouches-du-Rhône | |
 | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Castle |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Condition | Excellent condition |
| Location | |
  | |
| Coordinates | 43°48′21″N 04°39′37″E / 43.80583°N 4.66028°E |
| Site history | |
| Built | 15th century |
| Built by | Louis II of Anjou |
| In use | Late 15th century – 1926 |
| Materials | Limestone |
| Events | Hundred Years' War |
| Official name | Château de Tarascon |
| Type | Classé |
| Designated | 1840 |
| Reference no. | PA00094521 |
The Château de Tarascon is a medieval castle in Tarascon in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the south of France. The fortress stands right on the banks of the Rhône opposite Château de Beaucaire, and near the St Martha's Collegiate Church. Rebuilt in the first half of the 15th century in a combination of Gothic and Renaissance styles, the fortress was a venue for events, meetings, and celebrations for King René before being converted into a military prison at the end of the 18th century. Today, known for its imposing stone keep and contemporary art exhibits, the structure stands as one of the best preserved castles in the world and has been classified as a historic monument since 1840.
History
[edit]
The first castle was constructed by Roubaud II, Marquis of Provence between 994 and 1010 over the ruins of a Roman castrum. Partially destroyed then rebuilt and occupied by Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence and brother of Louis IX, King of France, the castle was then restored in 1291 by his son Charles II.[1] Seeking to take advantage of the absence of Queen Jeanne, Countess of Provence and the departure of Pope Urban V to Rome, Duke Louis of Anjou, governor of Languedoc and brother of the King of France Charles V appointed Bertrand Du Guesclin, who had just been freed in December 1367 after his capture at the Battle of Nájera to lay siege on and capture the city. Du Guesclin set out on 26 February 1368 with 2,000 men and laid siege to Tarascon on 4 March 1368, organizing a blockade surrounding the entire city. Greatly outnumbered in strength and number, Tarascon surrendered on 20 or 22 March 1368.[2]
After the recapture of the town in 1370 from the Duke by the bands of Raimond VIII de Turenne, the Anjou family decided to rebuild the castle entirely. Using materials from quarries at Beaucaire, construction of the current castle of Tarascon was started in 1401 by Louis II of Anjou and was continued by his first son, Louis III of Anjou with architect Jean Robert. Based off the Bastille in Paris, The fortress was completed in 1449 by his second son, René I of Naples. In 1471, Tarascon was equipped with twenty bombards and three other artillery pieces, positioned on the terraces crowning the castle. However, after 1481, the castle was only occasionally used by the king's agents.
After the French Revolution, the fortress was turned into a military prison housing prisoners of war, including Catalan and Spanish sailors.[3] After the closure of the prison in 1926, the castle was acquired by the state in 1932 and opened to the public as a museum. During World War II, Tarascon was targeted by Allied forces in the summer of 1944, with the first bombing raid occurring on June 25th targeting the bridges along the Rhône. Extensive damage was done to the old town, however, the castle survived the war relatively unscathed and reopened to the public after restorations.
Features
[edit]The castle itself consists of a wall 3 to 4 meters thick and 45 meters high with two round towers (the Clock Tower and the Chapel Tower) to the east and two square towers to the west on the Rhône side.[4] The architects had adopted, for the most exposed façade, round towers, which were more resistant and easier to defend than square towers. This survival of the use of square towers, at a time when they had been abandoned in the rest of France, marks a certain archaism. One of the characteristics of this castle is its curtain walls of the same height as the towers they connect, thus creating a continuous level of defense and circulation.[5] The outbuildings were converted to house the apothecary of the Saint-Nicolas Hospital.
At the centre of the castle is the main courtyard around which the residential buildings rise, which have three floors, the first two of which have French ceilings and the last one being vaulted. They are served by spiral staircases, the main one of which is incorporated into a projecting turret clearly visible on the eastern facade of the inner courtyard. The latter is relatively small compared to the height of the buildings surrounding it. On the eastern side of this courtyard is the polygonal staircase, and on the southern facade the niche housing the busts of King René and the queen. These busts, mutilated during the Revolution, are probably the work of Francesco Laurana[6]. The semicircular chapel tower, dating from the first half of the 15th century, owes its name to two superimposed chapels, one on the ground floor for staff, and the other on the second floor reserved for the lord. The lower chapel, or "Chapel of the Singers," is rectangular in shape and ends with a semicircular apse housed within the tower. Both bays have ribbed vaults. The choir vault has eight branches radiating from a sculpted keystone representing the Coronation of the Virgin. The upper chapel, or "Grande Chapelle," has the same dimensions. However, it is lower, and its apse has only six ribbed branches. These chapels open to the outside only through arrow slits so as not to weaken the defenses.
In popular culture
[edit]The castle served as a stand-in for the famous prison in Robert Enrico's film The French Revolution (1989)[7].
On August 23, 2020, the castle was the setting for a filming session for Guillaume Sanjorge's series Draculi & Gandolfi[8].
References
[edit]- ^ Delebecque, Catherine (1929). Histoire de la ville de Tarascon depuis les origines jusqu'à l'avènement de la reine Jeanne (1343) (Thesis) (in French). Paris: École nationale des chartes. p. 21.
- ^ Masson, Paul (1937). Encyclopédie départementale des Bouches-du-Rhône, Archives départementales des Bouches-du-Rhône. Marseille. p. 405.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Base Mérimée: Château du Roi René, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Mengus, Nicholas (2021). Châteaux forts au Moyen Âge. Rennes. p. 120.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Masson, Paul (1913–1937). Encyclopédie départementale des Bouches-du-Rhôn. Marseille: Archives départementales des Bouches-du-Rhône. p. 255.
- ^ Robin, Françoise (1985). La cour d'Anjou-Provence, la vie artistique sous le règne de René. Paris: Picard. p. 257.
- ^ Enrico, Jérôme (1989). La Révolution française, journal du film.
- ^ "Draculi & Gandolfi au Château de Tarascon!".
