:''See also

Château Grimaldi (disambiguation) Château Grimaldi is the name given to several Châteaux in Europe which were founded by various members of the Grimaldi Family. These Châteaux include: * Château Grimaldi (Cagnes), at Cagnes-sur-Mer in the département of Alpes-Maritimes, in Fr ...

for other Châteaux of the same name''. Girolamo Grimaldi

Château Grimaldi at Puyricard near

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

is a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

built within the ruined walls of a 16th-century Château once belonging to the Archbishops of Puyricard. The original castle chapel remains built in the Romanesque style. Between 1655 and 1685 the

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

served as residence of

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Girolamo Grimaldi-Cavalleroni Girolamo Grimaldi-Cavalleroni (20 August 1597– 4 November 1685) was an Italian people, Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Aix. Early life Grimaldi was born in Genoa, the son of Giacomo Grimaldi, ...

who had rebuilt the chateau which had been in ruins for 70 years. As the residence of an archbishop the ruined Château is sometimes referred to as an episcopal

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

. The term "palace" for any residence, no matter how large, other than episcopal is not commonly used in Europe for any rural building. The earlier chateau had been the ancestral seat of the Princes of Baux, from whom it passed to the Archbishops of Puyricard. During the 17th century the incumbent archbishop Jerome de Grimaldi had the new plans for the restoration drawn up based on the

Palazzo Farnese Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French e ...

. The principal facade was divided by

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s between which there were said to be 365 windows.Histoire de Puyricard The palace cost 2 million

livre Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Fre ...

to construct from 1657–1678, yet it was to last little more than 50 years. In 1709, the palace was demolished, just a few walls survived the blasts of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

necessary to demolish the thick walls, The present structure built inside the walls is a later date than the ruined Château and while referred to as a château is in fact little more than a large farm house. The main facade being of seven bays, with an entrance in the center. On three floors, the top floor is low service floor. The building has a low pitched roof of

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

pantile A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered roo ...

s. The roof betrays the "château's" more humble origins. Had the building been constructed as a chateau, the roof would have been concealed, or given highly visible prominence in the French

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style.

Notes

References

Château Grimaldi
Retrieved 2 February 2007

Retrieved 15 February 2010

Retrieved 3 February 2007

External links

Commercial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimaldi, Chateau de Châteaux in Bouches-du-Rhône