Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Substructions of a small temple: inscription by decree of 5 February 1937
Key figures
Abbaye de Montmajour - Medieval owner
Owned the castle until the 18th century.
Xavier Margarit - Archaeologist
Studyed the Neolithic site (2012).
Origin and history
Ponteau Castle, located south of Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a monument in ruins whose history dates back to ancient times. The site is home to the remains of a first-century Roman temple, whose elements are preserved in the Lapidaire garden, as well as the foundations of a Gallo-Roman villa and a spring dug in the rock. These discoveries attest to an ancient occupation, reinforced by an archaeological site of the Lampea laboratory (CNRS), which has discovered neolithic tools (silex, bone, polished stone), confirming human use from prehistoric times.
The medieval castle itself was built in the early 14th century. Until the 18th century, it belonged to Montmajour Abbey, a powerful religious institution in the region. The present ruins are limited to the walls of the castle, which overlook the substructures of the Roman temple. The latter were listed as historic monuments by order of 5 February 1937, emphasizing their heritage value. The site, closed to the public, thus preserves the superimposed traces of 2,000 years of history, from prehistory to modern times.
Archaeological excavations revealed that the Ponteau site was a strategic site as early as the final Neolithic, as evidenced by the remains studied by Xavier Margarit (2012). These discoveries, published in Archeologia, illuminate the origins of dry stone architecture in Provence. The castle, for its part, illustrates feudal and religious control over the region, before its gradual decline after the eighteenth century.
