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Origin and history

Montferrand Castle is a medieval fortress built in the 12th century on a limestone spur of the Saint-Loup peak, 400 metres above sea level. Originally owned by the Counts of Melgueil, it dominates the village of Saint-Mathieu-de-Treviers and is part of a garrigue landscape. Its access, formerly reserved for pedestrians via the GR 60, is now banned for safety reasons (risks of collapse), and the site has been closed since 2018.

The castle finds its origins on a fortified Roman site, mentioned for the first time in the early 12th century. In 1132 it was certified as the property of the Counts of Melgueil, a county divided into two districts: Melgueil (now Mauguio) and Montferrand. During the Albigeian Crusade (1215), the pope confiscated the castle to Raymond VI of Toulouse and handed it over to the bishop of Maguelone, who then accumulated spiritual and temporal powers. The site becomes a pontifical alleu, free of royalty, and the bishop even strikes his own currency, the last melgorian.

In the 16th century, the castle was the scene of the wars of Religion. Protestants took it in 1574, before Antoine de Cambous took it back for Catholics in 1584. He modernized it by inspired by the Renaissance, while his daughter married Jean de Ratte. In the following century, Bishop Pierre de Fenouillet strengthened his defences in 1611 to resist artillery, digging a ditch in the rock and adding a first enclosure. Despite the Protestant (especially the one lifted after a bombardment) and Catholic (led by the Duke of Montmorency in 1632), the castle remained undefeated until its partial demolition in the 18th century.

Under Louis XIV, Colbert de Croissy obtained permission to dismantle the castle in 1709, but transport difficulties limited destruction. Stones are promised to anyone who agrees to participate in its demolition. In the 21st century, the community of communes of the Grand Pic Saint-Loup became its owner in 2009 and launched a safeguard program in 2017. Ranked a historic monument in 2022, and again in 2024, the site is the subject of a project of valorisation aimed at stabilizing the ruins and creating cultural spaces, without reconstruction.

Today, Montferrand Castle illustrates the challenges of preserving a fragile medieval heritage. Although closed to the public, its history reflects religious conflicts, episcopal powers and architectural transformations between the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Its future now depends on the consolidation and security work undertaken by local communities, in partnership with DRAC.

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