The austere medieval fortress was transformed into a pleasure castle by the end of the 15th century.e century by Left-handed Adhemar, Baron of Grignan. His son Louis AdhémarThe governor of Provence commissioned the majestic Renaissance façade, punctuated by windows, pilasters, and columns. This marked the first golden age of the château: the Adhémar family were powerful in Provence, and the building became one of the most beautiful. Palace Renaissance from southeastern France.
Two centuries later, the Count of Grignan, François de Castellane Adhémar de Monteil, lieutenant general of King Louis XIV in the government of Provence, had a new entrance built befitting his position: he pierced a large door in the south façade, leading to the main courtyard. This was the period of the "royal château," which saw the birth of the famous correspondence between Madame de Sévigné and daughter Françoise, Countess of Grignan.
Dismantled during the French Revolution, the iconic facade of the castle was restored by Marie Fontaine, the last great lady of Grignan, owner of the premises from 1912 to 1937
Equipped with a well and a cistern in the basement, the upper courtyard of the castle has been closed off since the Middle Ages. At the turn of the 16the century, the baron Gaucher Adhémar de Monteil, then his son LouisThey transformed and permanently embellished the austere fortress into a pleasure palace. Before the grand southern façade was commissioned, the well courtyard received three new façades with refined decorations. An Italianate atmosphere pervaded Grignan.
The long, ground-floor gallery, built by Gaucher Adhémar, is pierced by six mullioned windows. It is punctuated by gargoyles: these were originally sea horses that Marie Fontaine will replace, at the beginning of the 20the century, by the seven deadly sins. The two other facades receive a richer decoration, partly inspired by the diplomatic travels of the baron Louis Adhémar de Monteil in France and Italy to represent King Francis Ier.
In the corner of the courtyard, the square tower has a doorway, formerly surmounted by the arms of the Baron of Grignan. This belvedere tower, topped with a cupola, is the old entrance to the castle.
The vast paved terrace of the castle, Open to the surrounding landscape in a 360° panorama, it has the unique feature of being located "on God's roof"! It literally "covers" a church, commissioned by Louis Adhémar de Monteil under the patronage of King Francis IerThe principle was innovative in the 16th century.e century because it places temporal power above spiritual power. It is coupled with an architectural feat: the vaults of the collegiate church must support the exceptional load of a stone terrace, under which the roofs are concealed.
