The Château de l'Empéri (in Provençal Occitan: ''Castèu de l'Empèri'') is a 9th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

built on the rock of Puech which dominates the immense plain of Crau in the '' commune'' of

Salon-de-Provence Salon-de-Provence (, ; or , ), commonly known as Salon, is a commune located about northwest of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department (Metropolis of Aix-Marseille Provence), region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It ...

in the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is listed as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' (historical monument) by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

since 1956. Château de l'Empéri

History

The castle was the residence of the archbishops of

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

as well as the

Holy Roman emperors The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

. It is from the latter that the castle derives its name of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

which at this time included the East bank of the

Rhône River The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf ...

. During 1481, at the time of the junction with

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, it came under the power of kings of France. Arranged and embellished during the 15th and 16th centuries it was used as jails and barracks after the Révolution time. Hardly damaged by an earthquake in 1909, the buildings were restored by the Monuments Historiques during 1926 and hosted the museum of the old Salon, before hosting now the present museum of Art and History Military. In the Empéri stayed several kings and queens of France. Francis I and his court,

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. In 1660

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

came to consult

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

, the famous astrologer would have predicted the throne for her three sons and the accession of her nephew, the future king

Henri IV Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

. The castle contains faithful representations of the various army corps from the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

to the present day in its museum. The museum also contains a copy of a bed belonging to

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

Architecture

In front of the castle is the ''Centuries Plaza'' () leading into the Church of Saint-Michel.

Lycée de l'Empéri

The

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

adjacent to the Château also bears the name of ''« l'Emperi »''. In Past times, this school prepared its pupils for the Air Force military school of Salon-de-Provence, passing which students can opt to join the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

or, if it interests them, attempt to join the prestigious ''

Patrouille de France The (, "French Acrobatic Patrol"), also known as the (PAF), is the precision aerobatics demonstration unit of the French Air and Space Force, officially commissioned in 1953. Using the French Aerial Aerobatics () unit of the French Air and ...

'' based in Salon. Currently, it is a rather prestigious lycée with programs in L, S, and ES, along with a Maths and Sciences prepa. The Lycée de l'Empéri is also known for its catering services; several television programmes cover the famous annual Christmas dinner at the Lycée, to such an extent that the grounds are restricted between 14:00 and 15:00 hours to give the students a chance to have their meal. The canteen of the school and its chef have been the subject of a broadcast on the ''

Métropole Télévision M6 (), also known as , is the most profitable private national French television channel and the third most watched television network in the French-speaking world. M6 is the head channel of the M6 Group media empire that owns several TV chann ...

'' in October 2006. With a passion for archaeology, Dominique Valadier, the lycée

Chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, carried out the unique project "The hour of the plate" () in 2003–2004 within the restaurant of Lycée de l'Empéri. The school became a completely smoke-free zone starting in the 2005 academic year, applying rigorously the Évin Law () of prohibition of smoking in public places.

Culture

Each summer, the Château hosts a festival of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, and some years also forms the venue for ''Nostradamiques'' – historical re-enactment of the time of Nostradamus together with processions and a transformation of the old medieval downtown. One such re-enactment was performed by the famous television presenter

Jean-Pierre Foucault Jean-Pierre Foucault (; born 23 November 1947) is a French television and radio host. He was the host of ''Qui veut gagner des millions ?'', the French version of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'', and of ''Zone Rouge'', the French version of ' ...

. In 2006, the town of

had the honour of hosting

Robert Hossein Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed Les Misérables (1982 film), the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in ''Vice and Virtue'', ''Le Casse'', ''Les U ...

, who lent his voice to the closing ceremony of the re-enactment.

References

External links