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Origin and history

Clumanc Castle, locally known as Château des Périers, is a rectangular building with four pavilions, built in two phases between the second half of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century. Located on a slope east of the castral village, it consists of a five-storey, partially ruined central body and a reconstructed western wing. The cellars, service rooms (like a bread oven), and a central staircase served the levels, while the elevations had cross- and semi-crossed bays, emphasized by tufted cords on the pavilions. The absence of these cords on the central body and the differences in masonry (wound-angle chains for the body, cut stone for the pavilions) suggest a two-stage construction or subsequent adaptations.

The history of the castle is linked to the family of Perier, lords of Clumanc, who became the major owners of it at the beginning of the seventeenth century after the acquisition of the shares of the Oraison (1618) and Barras (1622). Replacing a medieval castle, this innovative building for the region — broken with the houses containing traditional round towers — was divided into two lots after the Revolution. Falling in ruins before 1837, he was saved from disappearance by the restoration of his western part and the consolidation of the eastern remains by a private owner. Enlisted as historical monuments in 1978, it illustrates the seigneurial architecture of transition between Renaissance and classical times in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

The precise origins of its construction remain unclear, but its architectural part — a rectangular body flanked by pavilions — could inspire models outside the region, where medieval forms still persisted. The Périers, although little documented, marked the local history by this castle, today a symbol of Provencal rural heritage. The vestiges, such as the frames of sandstone bays or the traces of the central staircase, bear witness to its past fascination, while its recent restoration makes it possible to appreciate the volumes and the original structure.

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