The Château d'Esparron-de-Verdon is located in the commune of Esparron-de-Verdon in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department.
The first mention of a castle in Esparron dates back to 990. A charter from the abbey of Lérins, dated that year, refers to a church dedication near 'castrum Sparronis, in Bulzolschi valle.' Historian Mathieu Vivas suggests this text dates more likely to the 1020s, tied to the incastellamento phenomenon in Provence, during which fortified settlements emerged. In 1182, a man named Bertrand d'Esparron is cited in the cartulary of the Saint-Victor Abbey in Marseille.
Agnès Spata, daughter of Augier Spata, married Boniface IV de Castellane in the early 13th century. The Castellane family, one of the oldest Provençal families, shared lordship of Esparron with the d'Esparron family during the 13th and 14th centuries. By the 15th century, the Castellane family became sole lords of Esparron through marriage and purchase.
A square tower, 9 meters wide with walls 1.5 meters thick, was constructed in the early 13th century. Modifications occurred between 1520 and 1540, with additions like a latrine tower and a spiral staircase.
In the late 18th century, the east wing was restored with modern touches like adjoining rooms, salons, and ceremonial chambers. The current owner, Count Bernard de Castellane-Esparron, inherited the estate in 1989 and, along with his wife Charlotte-Anne, has since converted the castle into a guesthouse.
The castle features a 13th-century square keep, modified in the 15th century, as well as remnants of curtain walls and living quarters from the 15th and 17th centuries. In the latter half of the 18th century, the seigneurial castle was transformed into a pleasure residence by reconstructing the south wing.
Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).