First castle To defend against enemy attacks and gain control of the Rhône river, the first castle was constructed by
Roubaud II,
Marquis of Provence between 994 and 1010 over the ruins of a
Roman castrum. Severely damaged in an uprising by
burghers siding with the
Counts of Toulouse in 1232, the castle was rebuilt and occupied by
Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence and extensively renovated to its current layout by his son
Charles II. Seeking to take advantage of the absence of
Queen Jeanne,
Countess of Provence and the departure of
Pope Urban V to Rome, Duke
Louis of Anjou, governor of
Languedoc appointed
Bertrand Du Guesclin, who had just been freed in December 1367 after his capture at the
Battle of Nájera to capture Tarascon. Du Guesclin set out on 26 February 1368 with 2,000 men and laid siege to
Tarascon on 4 March 1368, organizing a blockade surrounding the entire city. Greatly outnumbered in strength and number, Tarascon surrendered on 20 or 22 March 1368, but was recaptured in 1370 by the bands of Raimond VIII de Turenne. In response to the new prince of Provence
Louis II making his entry into the region after the murder of lord Charles Duras in 1386, the citizens of Tarascon engaged in a civil war, leaving the castle and town completely destroyed.
Current castle After its destruction, the Anjou family decided to rebuild the fortress, and construction was started in 1401, continued by his first son,
Louis III of Anjou. Based on the
Bastille in
Paris, the fortress was completed in 1449 by his second son,
René of Anjou and was constructed using materials from quarries at
Beaucaire. In response to an unsuccessful siege in 1427, Tarascon was equipped with twenty bombards and three other artillery pieces, positioned on the terraces crowning the castle. However, the castle was only occasionally used by the king's agents until his death in 1480. Upon the death of René's heir
Charles IV, the earldom of Provence was ceded to
Louis XI, and the fortress lost its strategic interest both from a militaristic and as a royal residence. The fortress would survive two more attempted sieges in 1586 and 1652 before being converted into a military prison housing
prisoners of war. During the
French Revolution, supporters of
Maximilien Robespierre were executed inside of the fortress. Despite operating as a prison at the time, the castle was designated as a national historic monument in 1840. After the closure of the prison in 1926, the castle was acquired by the state in 1932, restored to its former state, and opened to the public as a museum. During
World War II, the town of Tarascon was targeted by
Allied forces in the summer of 1944, with the first bombing raid occurring on June 25th, targeting the bridges across the Rhône. Extensive damage was done to the old town, however, the castle survived the war relatively unscathed and reopened to the public after restorations. ==Features==