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The Tower of Albon dans la Drôme

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine défensif
Tour
Motte féodale
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
La tour dAlbon
Crédit photo : Gachepi - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Haut Moyen Âge
Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
1016
Guigues, Count of Albon
1142
Title of dolphin
XIe siècle
Movement of power
XIIIe siècle
Construction of the tower
XVIe siècle
Abandonment of the castle
8 mars 1982
Registration MH
11 juin 2012
MH classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The ruins of the old castle (Box D 768) : inscription by decree of 8 March 1982 - All archaeological remains: the tower; the remains of the old chapel; the remains of the old aula; the moth, walls and other masonry elements; as well as their plate pitch (Box YB 70): by order of 11 June 2012

Key figures

Guigues (comte en 1016) - Count of Albon Founder of the dolphin line.
Guigues V - Dolphin of Vienna Adopts the title around 1142.
Aimon (allié des Sarrasins) - Suspected ancestor Frédéburge's father, Guigues' grandmother.
Jean-Michel Poisson - Archaeologist Directs excavations (1994–2006).

Origin and history

The tower of Albon is one of the last remains of the medieval castle built in the 13th century on the town of Albon, in the Drôme. This site, perched at 388 meters above sea level on a castral motte, was the heart of the Albon mandation and the cradle of the powerful house of Albon, at the origin of the constitution of the Vienna Dauphiné. Archaeological excavations have revealed a continuous occupation since the Gallo-Roman era, with a villa transformed into an ecclesiastical domain in the 6th century, then into a strong place in the Middle Ages.

Originally, power was concentrated in Saint-Romain-d-Albon, a Gallo-Roman establishment, before migrating to the Albon mound around the 11th century. A first wooden construction, surrounded by ditches, preceded the building of the stone tower in the 13th century. This quadrangular tower, with thick walls of 1.65 meters, symbolized the wealth of the Counts of Albon. It was accompanied by a decorated Romanesque chapel, an aula (room of appartment) and grain silos, reflecting the strategic and economic importance of the site.

The castle reached its peak between the 11th and 14th centuries, housing a princely residence with an aula magna and a camera retracted, as well as a castral village protected by a triangular enclosure. The Counts of Albon, like Guigues V — the first to hold the title of dolphin of Vienna around 1142 — exercised their power there through marriage and military alliances. The site was gradually abandoned from the 16th century, then used as a stone quarry, with the exception of the tower.

The archaeological remains, including the tower, the ruins of the chapel, the lapel, and the walls, were classified as historical monuments in 2012, after a first inscription in 1982. The excavations (1994–1997) revealed a palatial complex of the 11th–12th centuries, as well as an artificial motte raising a natural spur. Today, the Albon Tower bears witness to medieval military architecture and the political history of Dauphiné.

External links