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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château d'Entrecasteaux is an ancient fortress erected in the 11th century, deeply transformed in the 15th, 16th and 18th centuries. Its architecture reflects these successive epochs, mixing medieval elements and classical arrangements. The French garden, designed according to tradition by André Le Nôtre in the 18th century, would have been offered to the Marquise de Sévigné, whose son-in-law, François de Grignan, was Marquis d'Entrecasteaux. This link with the famous epistolary marks the aristocratic climax of the domain.

In 1671, the seigneury was erected as a marquisat for François d'Adhémar de Monteils de Grignan, then in 1714 for Raymond Bruni. The castle was born in 1737, Admiral Bruny d'Entrecasteaux, an explorer sent by Louis XVI in search of La Peruse (1791-1793). The Revolution transformed the castle into a national good (1794), spared in extremis thanks to the intervention of the parish priest Dauphin. His tumultuous history also included the Marquis Jean-Baptiste d'Entrecasteaux, who had been convicted of the murder of his wife in 1784.

The site, classified since 1955 for its natural environment and built heritage, enjoys double protection (historical monument and 500 metres perimeter). The cooler, the fountains, the bridge Saint-Pierre (18th century) and the church Saint-Sauveur complete this ensemble. The Heritage Foundation participated in the restoration of the calade and bridge, highlighting the contemporary commitment to its preservation.

The village of Entrecasteaux, built on a rocky piton overlooking the Bresque valley, derives its name from its position "between castles" (intercastellos), attested from 1012 in the archives of the Abbey of Saint-Victor of Marseille. Medieval lords, such as the Blacas d'Alpibus or the Boniface de Castellane (1338), shaped his feudal destiny before his classical golden age.

Today, the castle and its gardens, open to the public, embody both a military heritage (medieval fortress), a home of the high Provençal nobility (Sévigné, Grignan) and a testimony of the scientific explorations of the eighteenth century (Expedition of Entrecasteaux). The site, surrounded by vineyards and forests, remains a high place in the Country d'art and history of Provence Verte.

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