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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
  4. Vaucluse
  5. 84530 Villelaure

  6. Château-Vieux, also known as Château de la Reine Laure

 Château-Vieux, also known as Château de la Reine Laure à Villelaure dans le Vaucluse

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine défensif
Demeure seigneuriale
Château
Vaucluse

Château-Vieux, also known as Château de la Reine Laure

    407 Route de Pertuis 
    84530 Villelaure
Photo de Château-Vieux, also known as Château de la Reine Laure
Crédit photo : Jean-Marc Rosier - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1600
…
1900
2000
vers 1563
Start of work
1582
Interruption of work
1579-1587
Main construction
1590
Partial damage
21 août 1992
Registration of the pigeonmaker
4 juin 1993
Classification of the castle
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The pigeonnier du Château-Vieux (cad. Pertuis I 1404, placed le Vieux Château): inscription by decree of 21 August 1992 - The Château-Vieux, including the ground of the whole plot containing it (cad. Villelaure B 1171, placed les Jardinettes): classification by order of 4 June 1993

Key figures

Gaspard de Forbin - Initiator of the castle The work began around 1563.
Melchior de Forbin - Main manufacturer Directed the work from 1579 to 1587.
Marguerite de Pontevès - Garden patron Finished the water parts and fittings.
Frères Rolland - Initial masons Build 500 canes of walls in 1579.
Jean Amoreau et Nicolas Bernard - Masons (1586-1587) Reprinted the work after the interruption.
Jacques François - Landscape Created the park in 1582.

Origin and history

Château-Vieux, also known as Château de la Reine Laure, is a Renaissance building located in Villelaure, Vaucluse. Initiated by Gaspard de Forbin around 1563, his construction was mainly led by his son Melchior de Forbin between 1579 and 1587, with the help of his mother, Marguerite de Pontevès, for the gardens. The Rolland brothers, masons of Cucuron, began work in 1579, building 500 canes of walls in a year. In 1582 Melchior de Forbin demanded the rapid completion of the works, paying 300 ECU to the craftsmen. In the same year, Jacques François d'Ansouis set up the park, while Cadenet fontainers created the pieces of water.

The work was interrupted between 1582 and 1586, probably due to the Wars of Religion, then resumed under the direction of the masons Jean Amoreau and Nicolas Bernard, with a planned completion in March 1587. Carpenters from Pertuis and Aix-en-Provence participated in the construction of the roofs. The castle, originally designed as a bastide enlarged before 1563, was transformed into a "U"-shaped ensemble with a square courtyard, inspired by the castle of the Tower of Aigues. Four corner towers and scalds were added for defensive reasons, reflecting the tensions of the time.

The castle was partially destroyed in 1590 during the Wars of Religion. Over the centuries, the lateral wings were converted into barns and stables by farmers, after the abandonment of the original project by the heirs of Melchior de Forbin. The pigeon house was listed as a historical monument in 1992, followed by the rest of the castle in 1993. The architecture, sober and classic, mixes Renaissance influences with defensive elements, with a monumental entrance and gardens now gone or transformed.

The sources evoke a possible architect, Ercole Nigra, although his role is not confirmed. The execution plans were drawn up by the masons Amoreau and Bérard, while the brothers Guilhem, Guillaume and Jacomin Roland, as well as the carpenters Antoine Bruneirol, Pons Bonaud and Blaise Guyon, contributed to the construction site. A fountain was installed in the centre of the courtyard in 1582, and a dovecote was built in 1600. The recently restored old house bears witness to the evolution of the site from a modest residence to an unfinished castle.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum