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122-514: A ruined medieval castle sits above the village and dominates the landscape to the south. It was built in the 14th century for Pope John XXII , the second of the popes to reside in Avignon . None of the subsequent Avignon popes stayed in Châteauneuf but after the schism of 1378 the antipope Clement VII sought the security of the castle. With the departure of the popes the castle passed to

244-468: A Castro Novo (new fortified village), which led to the name Châteauneuf, did not appear until 1048. It fell to Godefredus Lauger, Bishop of Avignon, and his successors, through an 1157 charter in which the emperor Barbarossa mentioned the presence of a vineyard. In 1077 Rostaing, his successor, deeded the fief to Pierre d'Albaron, who built a keep there. Throughout the Middle Ages , the old château

366-470: A Hungarian ambassador at the castle while four years later in 1389 Charles VI stayed with a large entourage. Then in 1420 his son Charles Dauphin of Viennois visited the castle. He would become Charles VII of France on his father's death in 1422. Although regularly maintained in this period, the castle gradually ceased to have its earlier importance. In 1590-1591 during the French Wars of Religion

488-640: A farmer in the village. The following year, these were resold in 33 equal parts. By 1848 most of the castle had been destroyed by the purchasers. The mayor forbade the destruction of the donjon and in May 1892 the castle was listed as one of the French Historical Monuments . During the Second World War, the donjon was used as an observation post by German soldiers. In August 1944, just before their departure, they attempted to demolish

610-470: A higher ceiling (6.5 m). It was lit by four large rectangular windows providing views over the Rhône valley. There were also three smaller windows to increase the ventilation, two facing west and one facing south. The walls were decorated with frescoes and a band of large red, bistre and black roses. A door at the north end of the hall opened into a well-lit smaller room with a chimney. The main entrance to

732-467: A historic monument. During World War II the Germans moved in. The keep was transformed; it served as an arms dépôt and a 115m anti-aircraft observation post. Operation Dragoon triggered a retreat of the occupation forces. The garrison of the château, which had been storing explosives and munitions, blew them up before leaving on 20 August 1944, destroying the entire northern part of the château. Only

854-721: A local dignitary. They were placed in the church in a ceremony led by Claude-Henri Plantier , the bishop of Nîmes, in October 1868. The ruins of the Chapel Saint-Agricol d'Albaret are 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) southwest of the town next to the A9 autoroute . The chapel was once part of a priory belonging to the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-André in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon . The word "Albaret"

976-403: A local wine merchant, Mr. Borty, received a case containing rooted American vines from a New York vine-grower, Mr. Carle. This case contained native grapevines, including 'Clinton', 'Post-Oak', and 'Emily'. Mr. Borty, planted these American vines in ten rows within his walled garden at 21 rue Longue (renamed rue Placide Cappeau). The following summer in a vineyard at the nearby village of Pujaut ,

1098-575: A new bishop to replace himself in 1336. None of the following four popes stayed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape either, but after the schism of the Catholic Church in 1378, the Avignon antipope Clement VII frequently sought the security of the castle and from 1385 to 1387 had improvements carried out on the building. In the 14th century the presence of the pope in Avignon and construction of the castle brought considerable prosperity to

1220-518: A new high speed railway line ( TGV ) uncovered the remains of a Gallo-Roman villa and 35 burials at a site 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) northwest of the town, just to the south of the Roc de Peillet, a small limestone outcrop on the old alluvial terrace of the Rhône called Les Ramières. The earliest finds date from the Augustan period (63 BC-14 AD). The site was abandoned during the 7th century. In

1342-482: A number of vines began to die. By 1864 Borty's own Grenache and Alicante vines were showing symptoms of phylloxera infection. All the vines in the neighbouring village of Pujaut were either dead or dying by 1865 and the initial infection had spread to the towns of Orange and St-Rémy. By the end of 1868 the whole of the lower Rhône Valley was infected and by 1890 phylloxera had spread across most of France. The winemaking cooperative , "Les Vignerons de Roquemaure",

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1464-680: A plain coloured glaze, either green, yellow or occasionally black but some have designs in brown or green on a white tin glazed background. The tiles are similar to those discovered in 1963 on the floor of Pope Benedict XII 's studium in the Palais des Papes. The room was built between 1334 and 1342 and is therefore a little later. The Châteuneuf tiles are slightly larger and often have animal designs. They were almost certainly manufactured in Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie . The papal accounts record large purchases of tiles in 1317. In 1994,

1586-439: A semi-circular apse at the eastern end which is built of carefully laid stonework. The choir is similarly well constructed except high up where rubble masonry is used. The two buttresses at the western end of the choir show evidence of having been modified. The walls of the nave , which now lacks a roof, are built with irregular blocks of stone. The western door, which is surmounted by a niche and an oculus , appear to date from

1708-443: A small archaeological excavation was carried out on the terrace at the foot of the southern façade of the papal quarters. Altogether fifty tiles were recovered that had been scattered in the modern landfill. At the same time, a survey was conducted in the village to locate tiles held in private collections. A hundred more tiles were identified that had been collected by local people in the 19th and 20th centuries. These new finds enlarged

1830-499: A stone staircase built into the thickness of the western wall. The entrance to the tower on the east side was protected by an unusually tall bretèche . A similar bretèche survives above the entrance to the Tour Philippe-le-Bel in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon . The two large ruined walls to the west of the donjon formed part of a rectangular building reserved for the pope and his close associates. The large ground-floor room

1952-463: A successor, so during his papacy the village belonged directly to the pope. John XXII initiated a large number of building projects, including additions to the Palais des Papes in Avignon as well as defensive castles at Barbentane , Bédarrides , Noves and Sorgues . In 1317, work began on the construction of the castle in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. John XXII derived little benefit from the new castle, which

2074-410: A very large village for the time. The figure was not surpassed until the 20th century. After 1344 there are no further records until 1500, when the population was 1,600. In the 17th century there were several epidemics of bubonic plague and by 1694 the population had dropped to 558. During the 18th century the population of the village doubled, reaching 1,471 in 1866, but when the phylloxera devastated

2196-455: Is 37 millimeters, just a little too wet for the climate to be classified as Mediterranean (Köppen Csa ). The village is often subject to a strong wind, the mistral , that blows from the north. There are two state schools in the commune. The nursery school, École maternelle Jean Macé, is attended by around 68 children between the ages of three and six. The primary school, École primaire Albert Camusis attended by around 137 children between

2318-458: Is attended by around 200 children between the ages of three and six. The primary school, Jean Vilar and Albert Camus, is attended by 330 children between the ages of six and eleven while the secondary school, Collège Paul Valéry, is attended by 650 children up to the age of fifteen. Older children attend a Lycée in one of the nearby towns to study for the Baccalauréat . The nearest is

2440-604: Is believed to be derived from the Occitan ròca (rock) + maura (feminine adjective black). Early Latin manuscripts use a variety of spellings for the name of the town. In 1539 the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts specified that French was to be used in official documents. The current French spelling is used in a manuscript dating from 1550. In 218 BC, at the start of the Second Punic War , Hannibal crossed

2562-409: Is for the cru or vintage wines that are labelled as " Tavel " or " Lirac ". Tavel is a small village 8 kilometres (5.0 miles) southwest of Roquemaure that produces grapes for rosé wines. Lirac is a small village 7.5 kilometres (4.7 miles) to the west of Roquemaure, but the wines labelled as "Lirac" come from grapes grown in 715 hectares (1,770 acres) of designated vineyards that are scattered over

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2684-526: Is in the hamlet of Truel which is 2.3 kilometres (1.4 miles) south of the Roquemaure. This chapel was also once part of a priory belonging to the Abbey of Saint-André. It is now a private house. The chapel differs from others belonging to the abbey in having a more complex architecture and a plan in the form of a Latin cross . The Chapel of Saint Joseph des Champs is 1.3 kilometres (0.8 miles) southwest of

2806-712: Is one of 18 villages in the "Côtes du Rhône Villages" appellation that is allowed to add the village name. Wines with the Côtes du Rhône appellation are produced using grapes grown in vineyards designated as suitable. Vineyards outside these "Côtes du Rhône" designated areas are used to produce wines classed as Indication Géographique Protégée . The vineyards for Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wines are planted with traditional grape varieties: Grenache , Syrah , Mourvèdre and Carignan for red wines, Clairette , Viognier , Grenache blanc and Bourboulenc for white wines. The proportions allowed of each variety are specified in

2928-481: Is the name of a small village that was served by the chapel in the Middle Ages. The earliest mention of the priory is when the benefice was donated to the bishop of Avignon sometime between 1104 and 1110. The bishop passed on the benefice to the Abbey of Saint-André. The records show that in 1845 the building was in a reasonable state of repair and that in 1881 a mass was celebrated in the chapel. The chapel has

3050-565: The commune . Although the village lay within the Comtat Venaissin , it was one of the fiefs of the bishop of Avignon and thus had a special status. The bishop of Avignon also held the fiefs of Gigognan and Bédarrides . In the second half of the 11th century a fortified village was built higher up the hill by the Viscount Rostaing Béranger in the fiefdom of his brother, the bishop of Avignon. The wall of

3172-541: The Château de la Nerthe  [ fr ] . After the French Revolution Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin rejoined the republic in 1793, and the winegrowers could sell their production for one third more than the departmental maximum because the Châteauneuf wine was recognized as high quality in all seasons. In 1798, the château and its domain were auctioned off to J.B. Establet who acted with

3294-587: The Gard department of southern France . The town lies 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) north of Avignon on the right bank of the Rhône . In 2017 the commune had a population of 5,481. Roquemaure was the site of a royal castle during the medieval period but after the French Revolution the castle was dismantled and now only two towers remain. In the 18th century Roquemaure was the centre of attempts to regulate

3416-619: The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (r. 1195–1250). Salt that was shipped on the Rhône and landed at Châteauneuf would not be subject to tax . As a result, the trade in salt became a considerable source of revenue for the village. Bertrand de Got, archbishop of Bordeaux , was elected pope in 1305, and took the name of Clement V . He transferred the papacy to Avignon from Rome in 1309. The register of pontifical letters reveals that Clement V visited Châteauneuf on several occasions, sometimes for long periods. While in

3538-484: The Jesuit architect Étienne Martellange shows the appearance of the castle in 1616. The architecture of the square tower suggests that it was built after the end of the 12th century. Only the ground floor survives. The round tower is later and was probably built in the 14th century. The surviving ruins therefore do not date from the 10th century when the castle is first mentioned in written records. The limestone blocks of

3660-492: The Musée Calvet in Avignon that dates from the second half of the 17th century. By this time the castle had not been properly maintained for three centuries and the drawing is probably an interpretation by the artist of the surviving structure. Another source of information is a plan of the village from the 1813 cadastre which indicates the position of some of the buildings but not their original function. The appearance of

3782-552: The Provençal dialect is similar to the word for a type of trap used to catch birds. This could explain the crest on the slab which includes a small bird above three objects that could be traps. Jourdain Brès may have been born locally as the family name of Brès existed in the neighbouring village of Laudun in the 17th century. The church contains an organ made in 1690 by the brothers Barthélémy and Honoré Julien from Marseille . It

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3904-490: The Provençal dialect of the Occitan language that was spoken in the village is Castèu-Nòu-De-Papo . The earliest settlement is believed to have been near the Chapel Saint-Théodoric, to the east of the current village center. This Romanesque chapel was erected by the monks of the abbey of Saint-Théodoric in Avignon at the end of the 10th or the beginning of the 11th century and is the oldest building in

4026-513: The papal legate in Avignon. A document from four years later (1213) mentions a tower and a cistern. The tower is almost certainly the existing Square Tower that dominates the ruins. In 1229 the castle was acquired by the French king, Louis IX , in the Treaty of Paris . There are no surviving 13th century documents that give details on the construction of the castle but it is clear from records of

4148-401: The roof tiles would have been manufactured in the village. To provide water, between August 1318 and July 1319, a large deep well was dug in the courtyard to the northeast of the donjon . According to the papal accounts, much of the work was completed by 1322, but in 1332 there is an entry for the purchase of timber from Liguria for four towers. The castle not only had a defensive role, but

4270-536: The 11th century was used to denote a fortified village, rather than a castle ( castellum ). The current French name of "Châteauneuf" (English: "New Castle") is derived from this early Latin name and not from the ruined 14th-century castle that towers above the village. Just over a century later in 1213 the village was referred to as Castronovum Calcernarium . Other early documents use Castronovo Caussornerio or Castrum Novum Casanerii . The official French name became Châteauneuf Calcernier. The word 'Calcernier' comes from

4392-401: The 12-century château. Then in 1317 he decided to build a new château above the village. It was finished in 1333. Due to its size and location its function was essentially defensive At the same time, in 1318, he circled it with ramparts. The successors of Jean XXII rarely stayed at Châteauneuf except when the plague threatened Avignon, and the papal court installed itself there. That

4514-598: The 17th century, and perhaps earlier, the ruined buildings of the castle were used as a source of stone for the construction of houses in the village. The community also used the stone to repair the walls around the village (18 to 20 cartloads in 1717) and to repair the church in 1781. At the time of the Revolution the castle had not been inhabited for a number of years. The buildings and the adjoining parkland were put up for sale and bought in July 1797 by Jean-Baptiste Establet,

4636-510: The 17th century. The chapel must have once had a graveyard as excavations carried out in 1989 in an area to the southeast unearthed 22 burials dating from the High Middle Ages . The oldest parts of the chapel are in the early Romanesque style and probably date from the 11th century. The choir was reconstructed in the 12th century and then in the 17th century the building was restored and the murals added. The Chapel of Saint-Sauveur

4758-539: The Latin text is: In the Rhône stands the castle of Roquemaure. They judge that the castle itself belongs to the empire, which has rights over the river, while its estate belongs to the kingdom of France, which owns the land-rights. On the estate of this castle there are vines which the people call brumestae , producing good fat grapes. These vines flower and produce clusters of grapes as ordinary vines do, but then they cheat their husbandman's expectation: for when it comes to

4880-546: The Lycée Jean Vilar in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon . A weekly market is held every Tuesday morning on the Place de la Marie. An annual festival ( Fête Votive ) is held in the village around the 16 August, the feast day of Saint Roch . A travelling funfair occupies the Place de la Pousterle, and local associations organise outdoor evening meals with live music. A popular event is the running of young bulls through

5002-536: The Rhône to join Roquemaure , about fifteen days before he died. Jacques d'Euze, previously the bishop of Avignon , was elected pope in 1316 and took the name John XXII . Châteauneuf fell directly under his authority. He had been Pope barely three months when he commissioned construction work at l'Hers. The accounts of the Apostolic Camera indicate that he allocated 3000 florins to the restoration of

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5124-469: The Rhône with his army and war elephants in his journey from the Iberian peninsula to northern Italy. The classical historians Polybius and Livy each provide accounts of the journey, but the exact route has been the source of much scholarly debate. Roquemaure is one of several locations that have been proposed for the crossing. Archaeological excavations undertaken in 1996 ahead of the construction of

5246-592: The ages of six and eleven. After the age of eleven most children attend the Collège Saint Exupéry in Bédarrides. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is twinned with: Castle of Ch%C3%A2teauneuf-du-Pape The Castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a château located in the town of the same name in southeastern France. Its presence has dominated the landscape around the village and its renowned vineyards for more than 800 years. The Castle of Châteauneuf

5368-436: The archbishop of Avignon, but it was too large and too expensive to maintain and was used as a source of stone for building work in the village. At the time of the Revolution the buildings were sold off and only the donjon was preserved. During the Second World War an attempt was made to demolish the donjon with dynamite by German soldiers but only the northern half was destroyed; the southern half remained intact. Almost all

5490-492: The area and to prevent wines from a poor vintage being passed off as coming from a better vintage, barrels of wine from Roquemaure and the surrounding villages had to be marked on one end using a hot iron, with the letters "CDR" for Côte du Rhône and the year. The surrounding villages were listed as Tavel, Lirac, Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres, Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas, Orsan , Chusclan , Codolet and "others of high quality". The decree also suggested that it would help to prevent fraud if

5612-480: The arrival of the popes, nothing is known about it. The Introitus et Exitus , the financial record of the Papal Treasury , shows regular purchases of small quantities of wine from the village. At the time, wine was difficult to transport and difficult to conserve so most was drunk locally when less than a year old. Wine production expanded in the 18th century with the rapid development of the wine trade. From

5734-411: The barrels were marked with the name of the parish of origin. Another decree issued in the same year complained about the poor quality of the barrels used for the wine and specified that they should be manufactured in two standard sizes. Roquemaure is believed to be the site where phylloxera , an insect that attacks the roots of grapevines, was first introduced into France from North America. In 1862

5856-417: The basement of the ruined rectangular building recovered a number of small glazed terracotta floor tiles. They date from the first half of the 14th century and would have originally decorated the main hall on the first floor. The tiles are square, 125–130 mm on a side and 20 mm in thickness. They are decorated in a Hispano-Moresque style which is more usually associated with dishes and jugs. Many have

5978-412: The bell tower was not part of the early church but formed part of the fortifications of the village. It later housed the municipal archives and in the 16th century supported a clock. The round tower at the northeast corner of the church was also part of the village fortifications but later served as a bell tower. In 1321 Pope John XXII paid for the construction of a side chapel, dedicated to Saint Martin, on

6100-516: The blend must be predominantly grenache . In 2010 there were 320 producers. The total annual production is around 100,000 hectolitres (equivalent to 13 million bottles of 0.75 litre) of which 95% is red. The remainder is white: the production of rosé is not permitted under this AOC. The earliest figure for the population of the village is from the census of 1344, which recorded 508 dwellings or " hearths ". As there were typically 4.5 inhabitants per dwelling, this represented around 2,000 inhabitants,

6222-466: The building with dynamite but by chance, only the northern half of the tower was destroyed, leaving the southern half as it appears today. In the 1960s the municipality constructed a meeting hall within the ancient ruined cellar of the castle. There are no surviving plans of the castle from the 14th century. The earliest depiction is an anonymous drawing from the Album Laincel in the collection of

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6344-474: The canalization of the Rhône in the 1970s. The other church, dedicated to the Saints Cosmas and Damian , was probably the earlier of the two. It is mentioned in a papal bull issued in 1138 by Pope Adrian IV that confirmed that the bishop of Avignon possessed the fief of Lhers. The church is mentioned again in another document from 1560. Although viticulture must have existed in the village well before

6466-451: The cardinal bishop of Ostia e Velletri in 1327. In 1345 Pope Clement VI authorised the transfer of the parish services from Sainte-Marie to the new church and the establishment of a collegiate chapter consisting of ten priests and two canons. One of the canons was charged with the spiritual care of the congregation. The chapter was relatively wealthy as it inherited the benefices of the earlier church and gained addition endowments from

6588-412: The castle came under siege and parts of towers and walls were destroyed. Subsequently, Louis XIV failed to maintain the building and it fell into a state of disrepair. At the beginning of the 18th century, the arm of the Rhône flowing between the castle and the right bank silted up so that instead of sitting on an island the castle now stood on the bank of the river near the town. After the revolution ,

6710-418: The castle nor the income from the tolls collected from boats using the Rhône are mentioned in this document. The plan of the castle is approximately square (25 m x 23 m), with a round tower at the southeast corner and a square tower at the northwest corner. The north side of the outcrop drops away vertically so there was no need for a defensive wall. A deep well is in the northeast corner. A drawing by

6832-533: The cellar and the south side of the keep remained intact. The west façade, while already in ruins, resisted the explosion and its windows show the layout of the château and its three floors. A young Resistance fighter of the Francs-Tireurs Provençaux was killed near the château in June 1944. A commemorative plaque marks the spot. In 1960 the municipality decided to install a reception hall in

6954-584: The château were lacking. The bishops and archbishops of Avignon, to whom it belonged, took little interest in it, which was left to fall into disrepair. It took on strategic importance again during the Wars of Religion . In 1562, Jean-Perrin Parpaille, whose family came from Châteauneuf, tried to take the château but was pushed back by the troops of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese , the apostolic administrator of Avignon, and had to leave his munitions behind. That made

7076-478: The commune of Châteauneuf-Calcernier, known as "du Pape", to protect the vines. In the next century, his successor, Hyacinthe Libelli, had the château redecorated and restored during 1681 so he could take up residence there. En 1728, François-Maurice Gontier, the new archbishop of Avignon, rented the building for 400 livres a year to an Irish noble named John, Baron of Powers, who also leased l'enclos des papes ,

7198-553: The construction of a new system of fortifications around the village. These defensive towers have all disappeared except for the Portalet tower in the Rue des Papes, but parts of the walls remain. In 1317, one year after his election, Pope John XXII ordered the construction of a castle at the top of the hill above the village. Some of the stone may have been from a local quarry but most was probably imported from Courthézon . The mortar and

7320-584: The correspondence of the Tulle family who owned the vineyards of the La Nerthe estate, we learn that the 40 hectolitres of wine produced was exported to England, Italy, Germany and all over France. In 1923, the local wine producers led by the lawyer Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié began a campaign to establish legal protection for the wine from the commune. The delimited area and the method of wine production were awarded legal recognition in 1933. Small changes to

7442-422: The cultivable land is planted with grapevines. The commune is famous for the production of red wine classified as Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation d'origine contrôlée which is produced from grapes grown in the commune of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and in portions of four adjoining communes. The first mention of the village is in a Latin document from 1094 that uses the name Castro Novo . The term castrum or castro in

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7564-480: The current bridge was opened. The railway station in Roquemaure was opened in August 1880 on the line running between Le Teil and Grézan- Nîmes on the right bank of the Rhône. The station closed in August 1973 when passenger transport on the line ceased. The line has since been electrified and is now used for freight. The Catholic collegiate church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Jean-l'Evangéliste dates from

7686-526: The department of the Bouches-du-Rhône . The stone is now set into the nearby wall of the church. Jordanus Bricius, whose name is usual written in French as Jourdain Brice, was an important judge and legal scholar. He is believed to have died in either 1433 or 1439. The historian Eugène Germer-Durand when reporting the discovery of the slab suggested that his family name may have been Brès which in

7808-408: The donjon before its destruction in 1944 is known from old photographs. The main entrance to the castle was just above the village and consisted of two successive gatehouses . The first was on the path up from the church and the second was just to the east of the donjon. The vulnerable north side of the castle would have been protected by a deep ditch. The northern entrance was defended by a tower and

7930-455: The earlier castle were no doubt reused to construct the actual castle. The Rhône was liable to violent floods and the river would change position or bifurcate, creating and destroying islands. The number and the position of the islands varied over the centuries which led to a series of boundary disputes between the communities of Lhers and Châteauneuf. In the Cassini map of France, dating from

8052-408: The end of the 11th century when the village was first fortified. It certainly existed in 1155 when a papal bull issued by Adrian IV confirmed that bishop of Avignon possessed "Châteauneuf Calcernier with its churches". Almost nothing survives of the original Romanesque church. It was rectangular in plan with the entrance at the western end. The square tower at the southeast corner which now serves as

8174-579: The entire region. The building was abandoned by the Calvinists after the battle of Valréas . The Baron of Adrets retook the stronghold and burned down part of the château in March 1563. His troops pillaged the salt warehouse and burned down the church. They left only the keep and a swath of wall. When peace returned in 1578, what remained of the château was restored. In 1580 Pope Gregory XIII granted to Jean-Baptiste d'Alphonse and his male descendants

8296-406: The established iconography and provided more precise information on how the tiles were made. The parish church is now called "Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption" but over the centuries it has been "Notre-Dame" (1321), "Saint-Théodoric" (1504), "Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie et Saint-Théodoric" (1601), "Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie-del'Assomption" (1626) and "Saint-Théodoric" (1707). The church probably dates from

8418-474: The feast of St John the Baptist [24 June], all the fruit vanishes, and nothing which might have grown into fruit is found on them. The earliest mention of wine being exported from Roquemaure is in the accounts of the papal court in Avignon of Innocent VI . In 1357 they record the purchase of 20 barrels from "Guillelmo Malrepacis", a local merchant. The port on the Rhône allowed wine produced in Roquemaure and

8540-439: The fief was initially considered to be part of the commune of Roquemaure, but in 1820 the castle and the land were transferred to the commune of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In 1992 the castle was listed as one of the French historical monuments . It is privately owned. Almost nothing survives of the two churches mentioned in the early documents. The church of Sainte-Marie was destroyed during the Revolution . The ruins were visible until

8662-479: The first half of the 14th century. It was built in the southern gothic style ( gothique méridional ) and replaced an earlier church dedicated to Sainte-Marie. The construction of the present church was initiated by Bertrand du Pouget , a powerful figure in the church hierarchy in the early period of the Avignon Papacy . He was appointed as the cardinal priest of San Marcello by Pope Jean XXII in 1316 and

8784-462: The first pope to be based in Avignon, died at the castle when travelling from Châteauneuf-du-Pape to his birthplace in Gascony . Later in the 14th century, Louis I, Duke of Anjou was a frequent visitor. He was the second son of John II of France and brother of Charles V of France . He used the castle as a base for his negotiations with the popes in Avignon. In 1385 John, Duke of Berry entertained

8906-484: The founder. Originally the wooden roof was visible in the church but in the 19th century the timbers were replaced and the vaulting was added. The third chapel on the right hand side of the nave is the Chapel Saint-Jean which dates from the 15th century. In 1855 a marble slab was discovered under layers of whitewash in the wall. The slab has an engraving of a man and a Latin inscription around three sides;

9028-401: The four communes of Lirac, Roquemaure, Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres and Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas. AOC Lirac is produced by 44 winemakers and 5 different cooperatives including the cooperative in Roquemaure. The cooperative in Roquemaure also produces a wine classified as " Côtes du Rhône Villages " with the village specified as Laudun . Laudun is 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) northwest of Roquemaure and

9150-448: The hall was on the east side near the donjon and close to the modern steps. The top floor of the building was lit by three large windows provided with benches and three smaller rectangular windows. The irregular pattern of the windows suggests that there were several rooms, perhaps apartments for the pope. The tiled roof with two equal slopes was entirely protected by the large outer walls. An archaeological excavation carried out in 1960 in

9272-579: The historian Louis de Pérussis, in his work, Discours de guerre de la Comté de Venayscin et de la Provence (1563–1564) , note: "The said Parpaille burned his fingers there and took some casualties then and shamefully withdrew to Orange. The Huguenots , led by Charles Dupuy de Montbrun, lieutenant of the Baron des Adrets , took the village and the castle, which had been abandoned after the Mornas massacre, in July 1562. They stayed until February 1563 and pillaged

9394-1002: The initial regulations were made in 1936 and 1966. The wine classified as Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) is produced from grapes grown in the commune of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and portions of the four adjoining communes in the Vaucluse . The vineyards cover an area of approximately 3,200 hectares. Of this total 1,659 hectares (52%) lie within the commune of Châteauneuf, 674 hectares (21.1%) within Courthézon , 391 hectares (12.3%) within Orange , 335 hectares (10.5%) within Bédarrides and remaining 129 hectares (4%) in Sorgues . Unlike its northern Rhône neighbours, Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC permits thirteen different varieties of grape in red wine but

9516-471: The last third of the 18th century, the castle is shown sitting on an island. At the time of the Revolution, the fief of Lhers included land joined to the right bank near Roquemaure , an island near the left bank separated by a small branch of the river, another island in the middle of the Rhône on which sat the castle, several gravel banks and a farm on land that was contiguous with Châteauneuf. The land of

9638-508: The limestone base it rises 40 metres (130 feet) above the town. At least from the middle of the 17th century, and probably much earlier, the port was situated 400 metres (1,300 feet) to the west of the castle at a position near the present car park and the Cave Granier in the l'Escatillon district of the town. During the 18th century the river deposited silt around the Île de Méimart which increased in size and eventually blocked access to

9760-535: The medieval period Roquemaure was the site of an important castle that stood on a limestone outcrop in the Rhône. The surviving ruins include two towers, the Square Tower ( Tour carrée ) and the Round Tower ( Tour ronde ) that date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Next to the Round Tower are the remains of a toll collector's house that dates from the same period. The ruins are currently privately owned. On

9882-424: The money spent on maintenance that by the beginning of the 14th century the castle included a curtain wall crowned with a parapet that sheltered a number of houses as well as an oven, a large well, a garden containing a second well, a chapel and prisons. The castle occupied an important position on the border of the territory ruled by the French crown, as at the time, the papacy controlled the Comtat Venaissin on

10004-536: The name John XXII . After his coronation in Lyon on 5 September 1316, he travelled down the Rhône and spent 10 days in Châteauneuf before he arrived in Avignon . He had served as the bishop of Avignon between 1310 and 1313 and while bishop had also been the seigneur of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. He had arranged for his nephew Jacques de Via to succeed him as bishop. But on the death of his nephew in 1317 he chose not to appoint

10126-452: The new vintages to wine professionals, the Fête de la Saint-Marc , when the previous three vintages, both red and white, can be tasted, and the Fête de la véraison , a big historical festival for the wines of Châteauneuf. Roquemaure, Gard Roquemaure ( French pronunciation: [ʁɔkmoʁ] ; Occitan : Ròcamaura ; Provençal : Recamaulo ) is a small town and commune in

10248-483: The northern aisle, the commune bought land and a house on the other side of the Rue Ancienne Ville and displaced the street to the north. In 1981 the church was restored and the plaster on the interior walls was removed. The ruined castle of Lhers sits on a limestone outcrop, 3.2 km (2.0 mi) west of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape on the left bank of the Rhône. Up to the 18th century there

10370-673: The opposite bank of the Rhône is a similar limestone outcrop on which sits the ruins of another medieval castle, the Château de l'Hers . In the Middle Ages the Rhône was somewhat wider at this point than it is today and both castles sat on islands within the river. The first written record of the Roquemaure castle dates from 1209, on eve of the Albigensian Crusade . The castle at the time was controlled by Raymond VI of Toulouse but on being accused by Pope Innocent III of sheltering heretics, he agreed to donate seven castles, including that of Roquemaure ( castrum de Roccamaura ), to

10492-567: The opposite bank of the Rhône. During the 14th and 15th centuries the castle was the only residence with suitable accommodation for high-ranking dignitaries near the river between Pont-Saint-Esprit and Beaucaire ; the Fort Saint-André and the Tour Philippe-le -Bel in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon served only a military function. During this period Roquemaure castle hosted a series of important guests. In 1314, Pope Clement V ,

10614-468: The other side of the Rhône. The town is the administrative centre ( chef-lieu ) of the canton of Roquemaure , one of 23 cantons of the Gard department. The canton consists of eleven communes: Codolet , Laudun-l'Ardoise , Lirac , Montfaucon , Roquemaure, Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas , Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres , Saint-Paul-les-Fonts , Saint-Victor-la-Coste , Sauveterre and Tavel . The name Roquemaure

10736-412: The papal enclave . When harvest time came, the baron decided to send his wines through the port of Roquemaure . He was refused with the explanation that the wines of Châteauneuf were very inferior to those of Roquemaure because of their taste, de terroir . The explanation lies in the presence of vines producing muscat sur ce terroir. The marquis de Tulle also found this in 1731, in the vineyard of

10858-443: The pontifical cellar. This great room of the castle has kept its original proportions. Twice a year, it serves as a prestige venue to the Échansonnerie des Papes, a confrérie bachique in Châteauneuf-du-Pape where it initiates new members. At these soirées, the inductees symbolically receive a key to the pope's cellar. Besides the soirées, a certain number of festivities are tied to the château, such as La Tauléjade , which presents

10980-424: The port. In the 19th century attempts were made to construct a new port just to the north of the Square Tower but the build-up of silt limited the depth of water. Roquemaure was vulnerable to flooding by the Rhône and on the southern wall of the church there are marks recording the height of the water in the major floods of 1755 and 1840 when most of the town would have been under more than one meter of water. There

11102-447: The presence of important lime kilns in the village. Calcernarium is derived from the Latin calx for lime and cernere means sift or sieve. From the 16th century the village was often referred to as "Châteauneuf du Pape" or "Châteauneuf Calcernier dit de Pape", because of the connection with Pope John XXII , but it was not until 1893 that the official name was changed from "Châteauneuf Calcernier" to "Châteauneuf-du-Pape". The name in

11224-438: The present church building formed part of the fortification and the arrowslits in the clock tower are still visible. Two towers and other vestiges of these early fortifications have survived. The new village would have contained a suitable fortified residence for the bishop which is believed to have been located between the church and the site of the later castle. In 1238 the bishop of Avignon obtained an important privilege from

11346-416: The production of wine in the area and the term "Côte du Rhône" was coined. The town is infamous as the site where phylloxera , a pest of grapevines, was introduced into France from North America via England in the 1860s. Viticulture is still an important activity in the commune. Several types of wine are produced including some classified as Côtes du Rhône Appellation d'origine contrôlée . Roquemaure lies on

11468-529: The regulations for each appellation . The regulations for red wines specify a minimum percentage of Grenache grapes of between 40 and 50 percent. For the Indication Géographique Protégée category a wider range of grape varieties are grown including "international" varieties such as Merlot , Cabernet-Sauvignon and Chardonnay . There are three state schools in Roquemaure. The nursery school, L'École maternelle Francette Prade,

11590-476: The right (west) bank of the Rhône , at the eastern end of a narrow limestone ridge, the Montagne de Saint Geniès, that rises abruptly from the flat alluvial plain and extends for 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles) in an east-west direction. The town is 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) north of Avignon , 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) south-southeast of Orange and 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) west of Châteauneuf-du-Pape which lies on

11712-410: The river. The section near Roquemaure was completed in the early 1970s. In 1835 work began on the construction of a suspension bridge over the Rhône at Roquemaure. At the time there was no bridge across the river between Avignon and Pont-Saint-Esprit . The bridge was destroyed by American aircraft in August 1944 during World War II . A chain ferry was then operated across the river until 1959 when

11834-399: The ruined castle was sold off in lots and used as a source of stone for other buildings. A plan dating from 1752 shows that the castle was entirely constructed on the limestone outcrop. The fortifications included seven round towers of which only the most northerly tower survives. The remaining square tower is 16 to 17 metres (52 to 56 feet) in height and 6.75 metres (22.1 feet) in width. On

11956-428: The slab is damaged and the inscription on the fourth side is missing. The text reads: "This is the tomb of the noble master [and] professor of both laws, Lord Jordanus Bricius, Lord of the castles of Velaux and Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, who was chief judge of Provence, and had built..." Unfortunately the date which presumably would have been on the fourth side and is missing. Velaux and Châteauneuf-le-Rouge are communes in

12078-472: The south side of the nave abutting the square tower. A second chapel, dedicated to Saint Anne, was constructed in the 16th century near the Saint Martin chapel. At the end of the 18th century, the church was in a bad state of repair and had become too small for the village. Beginning in 1783 the church was extended towards the west and the entrance moved to the south wall. New windows were also created in

12200-413: The south wall of the nave. In 1835 the square tower was converted into the existing bell tower. In the 19th century, before the arrival of phylloxera , the village was very prosperous. Between 1853 and 1859 it paid for a major enlargement of the church in which side aisles were created either side of the nave. The chapels of Saint-Anne and Saint-Martin were demolished to create the southern aisle. To build

12322-550: The surrounding villages to be easily exported. In 1735 more than 8,000 barrels a year were being shipped from the port. The current law for the Côtes du Rhône Appellation d'origine contrôlée dates only from 1937, but there is a long history of attempts to regulate the quality of the wine from the region. In 1737 the Conseil d'Etat issued a royal decree on the production of wine in Roquemaure. It specified that neither wine nor harvested grapes could be brought into town from outside

12444-441: The title of the perpetual capitain of the château. This nomination was overturned by Pope Gregory XV in 1623 then restored in 1633 to Pierre d'Alphonse by Mario Philonardi, of Avignon  [ fr ] . The title was then taken by Charles of Suarez, provicaire général of the archbishopric, who took possession of the château as well. Meanwhile, in 1584 Georges d'Armagnac , the archbishop of Avignon, took an ordonnance for

12566-453: The town on the south side of the D976 to Tavel. Roman shards have been uncovered nearby suggesting that the chapel may have been built on the site of an earlier Roman building. In 1384 Roquemaure was the chef-lieu of one of the 13 vigueries in the sénéchaussée of Beaucaire and Nîmes. It was the site of a royal castle and a large collegiate church with 10 priests. In spite of this,

12688-436: The underwriting of 30 of his fellow citizens. A year later, the new owner resold it in equal to his backers, all of whom began to take down the walls of the château, either to sell to use or to use themselves the stones. In 1858 The ground floor of the keep was rented as a warehouse on condition the tenants allow visitors who wished to see it to do so. In 1892, the ruin was deeded back to the state and immediately classified as

12810-416: The village he would have been a guest at the bishop's residence. In 1312 he stayed in the village from 6–22 November. In 1313 he returned from 9 May to 1 July and again from 19 October to 4 December. The following year, 1314, he was in Châteauneuf from 24–30 March. He died in the castle of Roquemaure on the opposite bank of the Rhône on 7 April 1314. The next pope, Jacques Duèze, was elected in 1316 and took

12932-427: The village itself was very small with only 5 hearths . Within the Roquemaure viguerie Lirac had 3 hearths, Tavel 5, Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas 13 and Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres 30. Bagnols-sur-Cèze was the chef-lieu of a neighbouring viguerie and had 115 hearths. Four centuries later in 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution , Roquemaure had 929 hearths and was similar in size to Bagnol which had 1085. Winemaking

13054-415: The village's defences lived in the castle but there was no permanent garrison, and most of the buildings were allowed to deteriorate. In the 16th century Huguenots occupied Châteauneuf for several months during the Wars of Religion . In March 1563, they pillaged the village and set fire to the church and parts of the castle including the apartments of the pope. The extent of the damage is not known. During

13176-465: The village. The economy was based on agriculture, but the villagers also possessed lime kilns and the local merchants supplied roof tiles for the Palais des Papes in Avignon and floor tiles for the castle being built in Barbentane . The village outgrew the mid-11th century defensive walls and houses began to be built outside. In 1381 the village obtained permission to impose a local tax to fund

13298-463: The vineyards the population dropped by a quarter to 1,095 in 1891. The population was 2,179 in 2012. Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a humid subtropical climate Cfa in the Köppen climate classification , with moderate rainfall year-round. July and August are the hottest months with average daily maximum temperatures of around 30 °C (86 °F). The driest month is July when the average monthly rainfall

13420-426: Was 26 m in length, 9 m in width and 5.5 m in height. The ceiling was supported by wooden beams with three central columns. The floor was paved with large stone slabs. This room, together with a smaller room to the north, were probably used for storage. On the first floor was the great hall of the castle in which banquets would have been held. It had the same dimensions as the ground floor storeroom but with

13542-497: Was a watchtower and a toll gate on the Rhône that passed to various families allied to the house of Albaron. Only a tower remained in 1146, and by 1283 it was already being referred to as "the old tower". It became the Château de l'Hers after it was enlarged in the 12th century, and it was renovated for the first time in the 13th. Some historians say the Knights Templar used it in the 12th century, but this legend

13664-481: Was a village of Lhers associated with this castle. It is mentioned (as Leris ) for the first time in a document dated 913 in which Louis the Blind , Count of Provence, gave the castle, one (or two) churches, a port on the Rhône and the land of the parish, to Fouquier, the bishop of Avignon. In 916, Bishop Fouquier gave the churches, the port and the parish to the churches of Notre-Dame and Saint-Étienne in Avignon. Neither

13786-421: Was also designed to serve as a summer residence. There was a garden on the west side and a 10 hectare park to the north enclosed by high walls in which vines, olive trees and fruit trees were cultivated. With the departure of the popes the castle became part of the fief of the bishop and, after 1475, the archbishop of Avignon, but it was much too big and expensive for them to maintain. The captain in charge of

13908-589: Was another very destructive flood in May–June 1856. In 1860 the French state agreed to pay two thirds of the cost of the construction of a dyke to protect the town. The dyke began at the Colline Saint-Jean and followed the river south to the village of Sauveterre. It protected the town during the severe flooding of 1935. After World War II the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône began canalizing

14030-469: Was established in 1922 and in 2013 had 60 members who together cultivated 360 hectares (890 acres) of vineyard spread over nine different communes. Roughly half the vineyards are classed as Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) and the remainder as Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP). The cooperative produces several types of wine or appellation with each appellation having an associated set of legal regulations. The most restrictive appellation

14152-426: Was not completed until 1333, a year before his death. The ruins of the castle are now a prominent feature of the village. There is no record of the next Avignon pope, Benedict XII (1334–1342) having ever stayed in this castle, but in 1335 he granted the village the right to have a ship mill on the Rhône, a market every Tuesday and two fairs during the year. He did not keep the post of bishop of Avignon and appointed

14274-515: Was originally installed in the Couvent des Cordeliers in Avignon but was moved to the church in Roquemaure in around 1820. The walnut casing dates from when the organ was moved. In the chapel to the right of the main altar is a casket containing some relics of Saint Valentine . These were extracted from the catacomb of Saint Hippolytus in Rome and given by Pope Pius IX to Maximilien Pichaud,

14396-449: Was probably accessed by a drawbridge. Very little is known about the buildings of the castle other than the ruined donjon and papal apartments. The castle contained a chapel dedicated to Saint Catherine but the location is uncertain. The donjon had a ground floor with a low barrel vaulted ceiling and two upper levels with rib vaulted ceilings. The large roof terrace was surrounded by a machicolated battlement. The floors were connected by

14518-421: Was probably introduced into Rhône valley by Greek colonists around 600 BC. Archaeological excavations carried out at La Ramière suggests that wine, or possibly olive oil, was being produced at the site in the second half of the 1st century AD. The earliest written mention of viticulture in Roquemaure is by Gervase of Tilbury in his Otia Imperialia which was completed around 1214. An English translation of

14640-489: Was probably originally a Roman castrum destroyed during the great invasions . A 913 charter referred to the castellum de Leri . It also appeared under the name castellum de Leri in a 913 charter signed by Louis the Blind which ceded the site to Foulques, bishop of Avignon . The castrum on the hill was replaced with new construction by the Count of Toulouse, the overlord of the comté of Provence. The first mention of

14762-523: Was put to rest by 20th-century historians. Châteauneuf, like Bédarrides or Gigognan , had a special status in the Comtat Venaissin when the Antipopes came to Avignon. Its high and low justices didn't fall under the Recteur du Comtat but instead under the bishop of Avignon. Its three parishes were said to be In Comitatu et non-de Comitatu Pope Clement V visited 5 April 1314 before he crossed

14884-548: Was the case in 1383. Only Clement VII , the antipope from 1385 to 1387, had any maintenance done on the disused château. He also had the vines replanted. He was the pope who lived there the most. His successor, the Antipope Benedict XIII , moved in during 1396 after he had done some restoration. After the Great Western schism ended and the popes left Avignon, the will and the resources to maintain

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