Discover the village with the 8 silhouettes which retrace the history, the built and cultural heritage of the village of Castellane from Boniface VI to the bourgeois couple.
Boniface VI
The name Castellane is that of one of the oldest French families. The Barons of Castellane are the lords of Petra Castellana. Influential sovereigns from the 10th to the 13th century over a large territory, they strived to preserve their independence, minted their currency and administered justice.
The screamer
Until around 1446, the community's assemblies were held in the central square, in the cloister of the Augustinian convent (current college) and sometimes in the Saint Victor church. The community council is then announced the day before by two trumpets and by the bell which surmounts the Clock Tower.
Bishop
Castellane has four places of worship in the town center and seventeen churches and chapels located in the surrounding hamlets.
The woman with the watering can
In the 17th century, the population's need for drinking water grew and the authorities decided to build a fountain in rue du Mitan, a lively and commercial district of the city, on a square then called Place Neuve. It was first renamed Place aux Herbes because it was the location of the vegetable market, then Place de la Fontaine.
The crossbowman
In front of you stands one of the entrance gates to the city, the Porte de l’Annonciade or called Porte de la Belle Judith. From 1359, the city was protected by a surrounding wall and fourteen towers. Two doors allow you to circulate in the old center: the door of the Clock Tower, west side, which closes by means of a portcullis and the Annonciade gate, east side, on which we can still see the traces of a drawbridge.
Farmers
Located between the Alps and the Mediterranean, Castellane has been an important place of passage since Antiquity. The roads intersect here, linking Grasse to Digne-les-Bains or Draguignan to Barcelonnette. The Pont du Roc, an old bridge that can still be seen, allows you to cross the Verdon and is therefore a strategic location.
The prisoner
Before you stands the old prison. Built in 1827 and of imposing dimensions, the inhabitants considered it larger than necessary. A surrounding wall and a courtyard were removed in the 20th century. The prison closed permanently in 1927, justice now being rendered in Digne-les-Bains.
Nearby
The bourgeois couple
In 1818, a fountain was built in the center of the square. On its upper part, an obelisk is placed there to recall the passage in March 1815 of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte returning from the island of Elba and on his way to Paris. The engraved marks of the stonemason can still be seen on the fountain., the hammer and the chisel and those of the companionship, the square and the compass.
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