Château de Gilette: A Medieval Castle in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- County of Provence, Duchy of Savoy
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page5 sections
History
The Château de Gilette is a medieval castle in Gilette, France, built in the twelfth century. Also known as the Château de l’Aiguille, it occupied a rocky summit above the village and formed part of the local feudal landscape.
Gilette in the Middle Ages
Gilette was first mentioned as Gileta in 1028, in the cartulary of Saint-Pons Abbey. A cartulary was a medieval register of charters and other legal documents. The fief, meaning a landed holding governed through feudal relationships, belonged to the Thorame-Castellane family. The settlement was also associated with a Benedictine priory dependent on Saint-Victor Abbey of Marseille. Such a priory was a religious house following the Rule of Saint Benedict and subordinate to a larger abbey. A family using the name Gilette appears from the eleventh century.
Conflict in the Sixteenth Century
In August 1526, Honoré Laugier, lord of Gilette and Les Ferres, denounced Jean-Baptiste Grimaldi, lord of Ascros, and René Grimaldi, lord of Massoins. The Grimaldi brothers were committed to delivering the County of Nice to the king of France. They besieged Laugier in the castle and captured it after he fled.
After the Count of Savoy condemned the Grimaldi brothers, their forces were themselves besieged in the castle for two months. They eventually escaped to France. French troops occupied Gilette from 1536 to 1544, after which the lordship passed to the Orserio and Caïs families. During the sixteenth century, the castle was enlarged until it filled the available space, while the village developed on the mountain pass at its present location.
Destruction and Heritage Protection
Louis XIV, the Bourbon king of France from 1643 to 1715, ordered the castle’s destruction in 1706. The site was later involved in the Battle of Gilette on 18 and 19 October 1793. The Château de Gilette was listed as a French historic monument by an order dated 28 June 1933. This designation placed it within France’s legal system for protecting heritage sites.
Remains
The castle stands on a rocky summit overlooking the village. Known locally as the Château de l’Aiguille, the structure was enlarged during the sixteenth century so that it occupied all the available space on the summit. Its surviving position and expanded footprint reflect the way the medieval stronghold was adapted to the confined rocky site.
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