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Origin and history

The square tower of Roquemaure, mentioned in 1096, was built in the 12th century under the impulse of the Count of Toulouse Raymond VI. This strategic site, dominating a Rhone lock between Roquemaure and the château de l'Hers, became a royal châtellenie in the 13th century after the crusade against the Albigeois, integrated on the seine floor of Beaucaire-Nîmes. The fortress, under the authority of a chestnut, housed garrison and royal officers, emphasizing its military and commercial importance.

During the Wars of Religion, the tower played a key role: taken in 1577, it resisted a six-month siege in 1590 under Captain Blondeau. After its surrender, a dam was built in 1626 to protect it from the floods of the Rhône. Medieval fortifications, today the only surviving square tower on a rocky needle, as well as the remains of a Romanesque castral chapel located a few meters east.

The site, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1957, illustrates the medieval defensive architecture and the turbulent history of Roquemaure, marked by religious conflicts and its role as a river lock. The tower, with its thick walls and its dominant position, recalls the strategic importance of the place, at the crossroads of the commercial routes between Provence and Languedoc, and its link with the Comtal then royal powers.

In the vicinity, the Castral chapel, today in ruins, bears witness to the spiritual life of the castle. Its existence confirms that the site was home to a permanent community, including soldiers, officers and perhaps their families. The tower, with its adjacent remains, offers a rare glimpse of medieval Rhododian fortifications, before their progressive decline from the 16th century.

The history of the tower is inseparable from that of the Rhone, whose repeated floods shaped the landscape and threatened constructions. The 1626 dyke, though late, highlighted efforts to preserve this symbol of royal power in a region often disputed. Today, the square tower remains an identity marker of Roquemaure, a tangible link between its medieval past and its wine and tourist present.

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