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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The square tower of Castellane is a key element of the medieval fortifications of the city, erected mainly in the 14th century with reinforcements in the 16th century. It is part of a enclosure designed to protect the city, whose irregular route combines the local topography, with steep districts to the north and dense urban fabric to the south. The enclosure, authorized in 1359 by the Count of Provence, was financed by capitation and taxes levied on the inhabitants. It had at least six doors and thirteen towers, some of which were integrated or transformed into later buildings.

The well-preserved square tower bears witness to the medieval masonry in sitting bells, contrasting with the 16th-century towers in blockade. The enclosure was strengthened in 1585 to protect the expanding suburbs, especially around Boulevard Saint-Michel and Rue Nationale. Despite the occasional deteriorations (collapses in 1739, unauthorized openings like that of the Fathers of Merci in 1710), the ramparts escaped the systematic destructions of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Three medieval towers, including the square tower, were classified as historical monuments in the 1920s.

The tower was officially listed as historic monuments on March 9, 1927, recognizing its heritage value. Today, it still dominates Castellane, recalling the strategic importance of the city on the border between Provence and Dauphiné. Its state of conservation allows to study medieval defensive techniques and their adaptation to topographical constraints. The visible remains, such as mâchicoulis or frames of cut stone bays, illustrate the architectural evolution between the 14th and 16th centuries.

Historical sources, such as the work of Prior Laurensi in the 18th century, evoke a forum originally funded by the local community. This collective project reflects the medieval social organization, where the defence of the territory was the responsibility of the inhabitants under Comtal authority. The square tower, with its 100 to 125 cm wall thickness, symbolizes this mobilization. Its inscription in 1927 preserved this testimony of conflicts and urban adaptations throughout the centuries.

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