Château des Grimaldi - Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France
N 43° 34.854 E 007° 07.700
32T E 348886 N 4827027
The Grimaldi castle, place Mariejol, in Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes. The castle has been classified as a historical monument since April 29, 1928.
Waymark Code: WM13G8A
Location: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Date Posted: 12/07/2020
Views: 2
Founded on the ancient acropolis of the Greek city of Antipolis. The castle was built on foundations from the Roman period. It preserves part of the facades of the Roman building to a height varying from 3 to 5 meters. This construction must date from the 1st century AD. J.-C.
The city of Antibes belonged to the family of Grasse until the 13th century before belonging entirely to the bishops of Antibes then of Grasse.
The tower in the castle was built at the end of the 11th century like that of Cannes. He is a witness from the Antipolitani castrum. It has a square section of 6.50 m on the side and a height of 25 m. We find at the base of the tower cut stones from Roman monuments. The original door was surmounted by a monolithic lintel which supported a tympanum and a semicircular discharge arch. Like all Romanesque dungeons, the door is located high to allow access to the room on the first floor only by a sliding ladder. The ground floor room was blind and accessed through an opening in the first floor floor. You could not access the second floor by a staircase on corbels running along the walls.
The Grimaldi castle was occupied from 1385 by a branch of the Genoese family of Grimaldi. The current castle was built in the 15th century. It was modified in the 17th century.
In 1608, King Henri IV acquired this fiefdom for the benefit of the crown of France. The Grimaldis settled in the neighboring Château de Cagnes, and their former Château d'Antibes became in turn the residence of the King's governor, the town hall and later a barracks, until 1924. The following year , under the leadership of Romuald Dor de la Souchère, the town of Antibes bought the dilapidated castle, which became the Grimaldi museum.
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