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Origin and history

The castle of Aumelas, which was built in 1036, is a feudal fortress located near Montpellier, in the Hérault. Originally attached to the Abbey of Aniane in the 8th and 6th centuries, it passed to the Viscounts of Béziers in the 10th century, then to the lords of Montpellier in the 12th century. Guilhem V of Montpellier became its owner around 1114, before the fief was incorporated into the kingdom of Aragon in 1204 and then bought by the crown of France in 1349. The site includes a dungeon, a Saint-Sauveur chapel (XI-XII centuries) and a Notre-Dame church (XIII-XIV centuries).

In the 16th century, the castle was partially dismantled to serve as a quarry of materials, while retaining a military vocation (obligation to keep the tower in 1573). It was finally dismantled in 1622. It became communal property after the Revolution and was registered in 1986 and ranked in 1989. Its remains include a double enclosure, troglodyte dwellings and Romanesque elements such as the Castral Chapel.

The architecture reveals a fortress isolated by a ditch and a chalk, with traces of spicatum and careful embrasures. The dungeon, the heart of the system, houses the chapel Saint-Sauveur, while the church Notre-Dame, adjoining, dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century. The site illustrates the political evolutions of Languedoc, from the Viscounts of Béziers to the kings of France, through the lords of Montpellier and Aragon.

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