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Origin and history

The castle of Roquemartine, also called castellas or castle of Queen Jeanne, is a fortress in ruins located in the commune of Eyguières (Bouches-du-Rhône). Dating mainly from the 12th and 13th centuries, it belonged to the d'Albe family and has architectural similarities with the castle of the Baux. Perched on steep cliffs, it overlooks the plain and the church of Saint-Sauveur, former parish of the village of Roquemartine, attached to Eyguières in 1805. The site, which was listed as a historic monument in 1926, received funding in 2022 through the Heritage Lotto for its restoration and its opening to the public.

The castrum of Roca Martina was mentioned at the end of the 11th century (around 1096), when his lords — Raimond, Gérald and Pons — sold part of their tithes to the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseilles to finance their participation in the first crusade. In the 12th century, the fief passed into the hands of Hugues Sacristain, then, by alliance, to the Lambesc family at the beginning of the 13th century. In 1222, the armies of Raimond Bérenger V destroyed the castrum during the reconquest of Provence County. The square, strategic to control a passage between the Durance and the Alpilles, was then entrusted to Albe de Tarascon, who rebuilt the castle in the 13th century.

During the estate crisis of Queen Jeanne Ire (1382-1387), Roquemartine actively supported Charles de Duras via the Union d'Aix, resistant even after the surrender of Aix. The castle was taken in 1384 by the Tuchins of Stephen Augier, then burned in 1389 by Raimond Roger de Beaufort, Viscount of Turenne, in conflict with the papacy. Released in 1399 by Marshal Boucicaut, it is partially restored (chapel, sled windows, cannon guns). Abandoned in the 17th century in favour of a new castle on the plain, the site fell into ruins before being protected in 1926.

The Saint-Sauveur church, attested from the end of the 11th century but rebuilt in the 14th century, completes the whole. In Romanesque style, it consists of a two-span nave and a semicircular apse, with curved doors to the north and south. Its slab roof and stone walls reflect local techniques. The site, now managed by the association Les Amis du Castellas, illustrates the turbulent history of medieval Provence, between feudal conflicts, crusades and strategic stakes.

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