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Origin and history

Boulbon Castle is an ancient castle built in the 11th century, whose current remains date mainly from the 13th, 14th and 17th centuries. Located on a rock overlooking the Rhône Valley, on the border between Provence County and the Kingdom of France, it played a strategic role as a sentinel on a major commercial and political axis. The architectures visible today range from the 13th to the 15th century, with defensive elements like mâchicoulis decorated with trilobé motifs, similar to those of Tarascon Castle.

The site belonged to historical figures such as Raymond de Turenne and King René in the 15th century. In 1608, the seigneury was built as a county, then passed on to the Raousset-Boulbon family in the 18th century. The castle, abandoned in the 19th century, deteriorated rapidly due to looting. Its ruins, classified as a historic monument in 1976, include an 11th century dungeon, a 14th century seigneurial house, 17th century terraced gardens, and a water supply system developed with varnished terracotta pipes.

Among the architectural features are a dungeon tower serving as a watchtower, a narrow courtyard 45 m long, and a double-revolution staircase. The castle was also linked to French colonial history: Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon, after dilapidating the family fortune, tried to settle in Algeria and founded the Republic of Sonora in Mexico, where he died shot in the 1850s. Today, the private site belongs to the La Vaissière de Lavergne family and is subject to consolidation work, although the ruins remain closed to the public for security reasons.

The remains bear witness to a military and seigneurial past marked by successive adaptations from the 11th to the 17th centuries. The castle once housed a house of thirty rooms, washhouses, and settling ponds fed by a source captured in the 15th century. Local events, such as illuminations organized by the association Château-Boulbon-Passion, sometimes animate the site, recalling its heritage importance in the Bouches-du-Rhône.

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