Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Cabrières, located in the Vaucluse in Cabrières-d'Avignon, finds its origins in the 12th century, built by the Adhemar family, Viscounts of Cavaillon and younger branch of the first hereditary Counts of Orange. This line then joins the lords of the Baux, becoming the Baux-Adhemar. The castle, symbol of feudal power, is then a strategic point in the Comtat Venaissin region, integrated with the political and military dynamics of medieval Provence.

In the 14th century, the castle passed into the hands of Henri de Chiabeau, whose daughter, Laure de Chiabeau (born 1314), was sometimes associated with the Laure de Petrarque, muse of the Italian poet. This period marks a turning point in the history of the monument, linked to the cultural and literary networks of the Provencal Renaissance. The castle remained a territorial issue until it was acquired in 1490 by Giraud d'Ancézune, Baron de Caderousse, who installed Vaudese families from Piedmont, making Cabrières a refuge for this persecuted community.

The most tragic episode occurred in 1545, when the castle, the only fortified Vaud village, was besieged by the troops of Paulin de La Garde under the orders of President Maynier of Oppede. After a negotiated surrender, the 400 to 500 inhabitants were massacred (males shot, women burned alive, children exterminated), and the village was razed. A commemorative column is erected in memory of this tragedy. The castle was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century and then remained under the Grammont-Caderousse seigneury until 1807, after major hydraulic works in the 18th and 19th centuries to supply the village with water.

The monument, partially protected since 1979 (facades, roofs, vaulted rooms and enclosure wall), now embodies a heritage full of history, between religious conflicts, reconstructions and adaptations to local needs. Its architecture combines medieval and Renaissance elements, testifying to the transformations experienced over the centuries. The nearby cedar forest, planted in 1860, and the remains of the Pesta Wall (1721) complete this historic landscape.

In the 17th century, the consuls of Cabrières undertook hydraulic installations (wells, pipes) to combat recurrent droughts, illustrating the environmental challenges of the region. The castle, private, remains a symbol of community struggles and strategies of survival in Provence, between garrigues, Mediterranean cultures (vine, olive trees) and memory of Vaudi persecutions.

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