Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The belfry of Grignan is part of a wider defensive complex, the enclosure of the village, whose first traces date back to a disappeared enclosure of the middle of the 12th century, identifiable in the present parcellar. The enclosure visible today was built in the second half of the 13th century, incorporating key elements such as the bailiage (1257-1283) and the door of the Tricot, built in the 13th century with a arched vault. The materials used, such as molasses and limestone, reflect local resources and medieval construction techniques. Repairs and modifications are attested by inscriptions (1573, 1748) and archives (1357, 1488, 1525), revealing continuous maintenance.

The door of the Tricot, the central element of the enclosure, was raised in the 14th century, then equipped with a clock in 1579 and a campanile in 1600, illustrating its evolution towards a role both defensive and civic. The large suburb, built in the years 1540-1550 for Louis Adhémar, was girded with a wall in 1596, some of which remains a corner tower and a western section. Subsequent transformations, such as the suppression of a southern courtine to create the place for the Herbs or the collapses near the Tricot Gate (1857, 1989), illustrate urban adaptations to changing needs.

The enclosure initially had about fifteen towers (round and square), of which eight remain today in various states. Seven gates were mentioned at the end of the 18th century, including the Saint John Gate, rebuilt in the 15th century, and the Balloon Game Gate, destroyed in 1833. These remains, combined with archives, offer an overview of medieval defensive strategies and their gradual decline in the face of urban expansion. The belfry, inscribed Monument Historique in 1926, now embodies this architectural and historical heritage.

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