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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The towers of Castillon, located on the chain of the Pene (massif des Alpilles), form an archaeological site occupied without interruption between the 2nd century BC and the 15th century. The demographic peak is located in the 13th to 14th centuries, before a gradual abandonment to the present village of Paradou, a few hundred meters away. The site, now visitable, preserves three medieval towers delimiting the ancient enclosure, while the rampart has almost completely disappeared. Excavations (1986–90) revealed a very degraded ancient oppidum, victim of time and clandestine excavations.

The ancient L的oppidum, fortified from the 2nd century BC, was girded with a raw brick wall on dry stone base, 1.50 metres wide. A large device trim, later added (augustean period at the latest), strengthened the structure. The houses, made of raw bricks on stone solin, were attached to the rampart, whose blocks were reused in the Middle Ages for other constructions. A fire probably ravaged the village between the late 2nd and early 1st century BC, although the site was reoccupied under the Roman Empire. An ancient carriageway, spotted by aerial photography, remains undated but is presumed Roman.

In the Middle Ages, the site — originally owned by Montmajour Abbey — passed under the control of the lords of the Baux between the 11th and 12th centuries. Strategically positioned, it allowed visual communication with the castle of the Baux and controlled the way through the marshes of the Baux towards the plain of the Crau. In the 13th to 14th centuries, a new rampart girded the hill, flanked by square towers and reinforced by curvilinear towers and lilies. A residential area, searched between 1986 and 1990, reveals a density in the 14th century, with silos, cellars and tanks, before a permanent abandonment at the end of the same century.

A medieval necropolis, discovered on the southeast slope, delivered five burials of adults (21–45 years old) dated from the Middle Ages. The deceased, two men and one woman identified, were buried in dorsal decubitus, an adduction arm. Their sizes (1.61 m to 1.73 m) suggest a well fed population. The site, classified as a historical monument in July 2023, now belongs to the town of Paradou.

Archaeological excavations, led notably by Henri Tréziny (1986–1990), helped to reconstruct the history of this oppidum transformed into a castral village. The remains, located at 41 metres above sea level, were overlooking a crossing point of the Baux marshes, the Saint John Bridge. The local materials (Burdigal limestone of the Alpilles) were largely reused over the centuries, partially erasing the traces of the first occupations. The site thus illustrates the evolution of a place of power, from antiquity to medieval decline.

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