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Founded: 13th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)
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The castle in small village of Bargème was constructed in the 13th century. During the Wars of religion it was in hands of Jean-Basptiste de Pontevès, Lord of Callas (1505-1579). In April 1579, the inhabitants of Callas, assisted by a resident named Jacques Sossy, a lieutenant of a Huguenot branch, broke into the castle and killed Pierre de Pontevès, then imprisoned Jean-Baptiste de Pontevès, his wife and his son Balthazar.
They locked Jean-Baptiste de Pontevès in a tower and stole his money. He was held prisoner for 45 days, and on the morning of May 24, 1579, he was taken out into the street and shot. A few months later, two of his other sons, Joseph and Jean-Baptiste, were killed in Bargème. In 1581, Balthazar de Pontevès took possession of the castle, but he was also a tyrant and violent like his father and one night, during an altercation, some men killed him in the common room of the village.
The property then passed to a younger son, Fulks of Pontevès. He, however, was accused of having been the instigator of crimes committed by a nephew and was sentenced to death. That sentence was absolved by the Privy Council of the King. It was towards the end of the 36 year period of the religious wars in France when the castle began to be demolished.
In 1818, Victorine de Pontevès-Bargème, the heir to the land and the castle ruins, married Elzéar Louis Zozime, Count and Duc de Sabran. They had no children so they decided to adopt the nephews of Victorine, Marc Edouard and Joseph Leonides de Pontevès. The castle was passed down over the years to their heirs and was kept in the family until 2008. At this point, the owners decided to put the castle up for sale and it was purchased in 2008 by the community of Bargème.
Today with its ramparts, two fortified gates, the Tower of Guard, the Porte du Levant, and the ruins of its castle, Bargème remains one of the most intact, old, feudal villages of Provence and this is what gives it its immense charm.
References:The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.