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IGN
castellane (04)
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CASTELLANE
: Gateway to the Verdon Gorges
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The
history of Castellane goes back to earliest times.
The town changed its name several times as well as
its siting, before it was finally settled at the foot
of a steep rocky slope, on the right bank of the Verdon.
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Church of Saint Victor |
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which was built through the
impetus of the monks of the Saint Victor de
Marseille Abbey at the end of the XIIth century,
has some most interesting architecture, which
enables one to see the period of transition
between the Roman and the Gothic. Saint Victor,
which was the parish church until the XIXth
century, was classed a historic monument in
1944.
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| NOTRE
DAME DU ROC |
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Chapel, built at an altitude of 903 metres on
the top of the rock, took the name of the patron-saint
of Castellane, Notre-Dame du Roc (Our Lady of
the Rock). It came to be destroyed many times.
The current building dates from 1703. It is a
place of pilgrimage, and the inhabitants get together
on 14 August each year for a torch-lit evening. |
| The
Porte of Annonciade |
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Porte of Annonciade, on the church square, is
the venue on each 31 January for the festival
of the Pétardier which celebrates a distant event:
it was in 1586, during the wars of religion. The
town, which the Baron d'Allemagne and the Duc
de Lesdiguères coveted, was delivered from those
who had put siege to it by a woman inhabitant,
Judith Anrau, who courageously scalded the capitain
leading this manoeuvre from the top of this gate!!
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| The
House of the Sirens and "Sirenians" |
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valley of the fossilised "Sirens" is concealed
a stone's throw from Castellane, at the Lèques
Pass. A paleontological deposit which is the only
one of its kind in the world where hundreds of
fossilised bones of these marine mammals have
been found. Open from June to October, daily from
9 a.m. to 12 noon and 3p.m. to 8 p.m. From November
to May, groups only by appointment. |
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The town is spread out around
Marcel Sauvaire Square, the centre of local
activities. The visitor, leaving the l'église
paroissiale, (parish church) can take the pedestrian
road du Mitan which has various shops, coming
out onto the picturesque fontaine aux Lions.
(Fountain of the Lions). The little adjacent
streets lead to the Church of Saint-Victor with
its vaults of early date and XIIth century bell-tower.
The Rue St Victor comes to an end at the la
Porte (gateway) of the medieval surrounding
wall, which is surmounted with a campanile.
Taking the path from the modern church, you
reach the Chapelle Notre-Dame du Roc, after
about 20 minutes, having walked parallel to
the remnants of the huge surrounding wall that
encircled Castellane in the XIVth century, overlooking
the town and the ramparts, the Pont Napoleon
and the entrance to the grandiose Gorges du
Verdon.
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