Tour Barberousse: The Medieval Keep of Gruissan, France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Tour Barberousse, meaning “Redbeard Tower,” is a medieval tower in Gruissan, France, and one of the last surviving vestiges of a castle built at the end of the tenth century. The castle watched the approaches to the harbour of Narbonne and helped protect the city from Saracen pirate raids and other seaborne invasions.
Medieval expansion
During the medieval period, the castle was enlarged under Guillaume de Broa, Archbishop of Narbonne. An archbishop held a senior position in the medieval church, with authority over regional religious administration. The surviving tower itself dates from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, showing that the fortification continued to develop after its original construction.
Dismantling and protection
In the seventeenth century, Richelieu ordered the castle dismantled. Richelieu was a powerful French cardinal and statesman of that period. After the dismantling, the site was abandoned and neglected. The castle ruins and Tour Barberousse have been protected as historical monuments in France since 14 April 1948.
Remains
Rocky stronghold and village
The tower stands on a steep, abrupt, table-like rocky outcrop above Gruissan. The fortified village developed around and below the castle site, while the present settlement forms a circulade, with buildings arranged in concentric or roughly circular bands around a central fortified or prominent feature. The parish church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption stands at the foot of the ruins.
The surviving keep
Tour Barberousse is a cylindrical keep built of bossed stone masonry. Its construction belongs to the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, and it survives as part of the wider castle ruins on the rocky summit. From the tower site, the surrounding landscape includes Gruissan, the coastline, the lagoon, the salt marshes, and the port of Gruissan.
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