The History of the Château

In the C12th, the Baux family constructed a fortress of which only the foundations remain.  In 1475, Foulques d’Agoult, Count of Forcalquier, built the Château Vieux in the late Gothic style, with the help of Waldensians.  After his death, the château was inherited by his nephew Louis and his wife, Blanche de Lévy-Ventadour.

In 1526, they started to build, in the new Renaissance style, an extension to the Château Vieux for their son François d’Agoult.  King Francois 1st visited the château in 1537. On François d’Agoult’s death in 1567, the Château passed into the hands of the Créqui-Lesdiguières.

From the end of the seventeenth century the château was inherited by the Villeroys and then the Bruni de La Tour d’Aigues.

In 1789 it escaped destruction thanks to the Mayor,  who declared that the château would become an hospital (which in fact never happened). In the C19th the Girard family became proprietors. Abandoned over the years, the château fell into ruins until 1920 when Robert Laurent-Vibert rescued it. It was classified a national monument in 1973.

The first Renaissance Château built in Provence, the château is the fourth most visited historic monument in the Vaucluse.

15th century medieval part

16th century Renaissance part

Château de Lourmarin © 2022 Tous droits réservés

Mentions Légales • Création web : WEEC