The Chateau de Carces

Everyone who commented on my last post had a word to say about the space where the exhibition took place .  Here is a bit I've learned about the Chateau de Carces. 

Carces (Pronounced car-sess ....and there should be an accent mark over the e) is a lovely, leafy Provençal town.   Its  "'Veille ville"was constructed  from rubble and ruins ( ramparts, walls, Roman vaults from the 11th to the 16th century ) hidden underground for 500 years .  The final restoration was completed as late as 2006 after 20 years of perseverance and tenacity.   

From this restoration, rose again the Renaissance castle  dating from the 16th century.   It had been destroyed in 1951 and restored again in 2006.   Certain original elements have been preserved:   the mullion windows , the stones around the door to the entrance of the castle and the the octagonal stone staircase. 

Those windows on the left are typical... the ones you shoot arrows out of...easy for the arrow to go out , harder for theirs to come in.

  The castle which you walk up to,  had originated on a rocky outcrop from the eleventh century and was reconstructed in the 16th century when it belonged to the powerful family of the "Comte" of Provence, and Lord of Carces.  It had seen many of the normal ravages of war and I imagine in its prime it had more height to it than is there now. 

 It is now used for cultural events such as ours and apparently there is also an outdoor theatre.  


As well as the medieval castle and old town, the village of Carcès boasts a lake,  gorgeous trees and parks and surrounding land which is perfect for wine.   In fact Carces is posed on the "route des vins de Cotes de Provence" and the quality of its wine has kept rising over the last years.   

  A well- cared for little town is Carces.  I wish I could have had more of a look around and "un verre de Cote de Provence" with dinner but with such a long ride home we decided to scoot and save it for another day.