The Musée de la Castre presents collections belonging to the city of Cannes: primitive art of Himalaya-Tibet, Arctic, pre-Columbian America, Oceania, Mediterranean antiquities, musical instruments from Asia, Afric, Oceania, America, nineteenth-century landscape painting with the little masters of Provence.
This conventual building (belonging to the abbots of Lérins), is built on a quadrangular plan, like that of a castle with a donjon, and incorporates into its defensive enclosure a main building and a chapel. In the middle of the central courtyard stands a square tower of the XIIth century, the height of which would allow the watch. It offers an exceptional 360 ° panorama on Cannes and its region. 
Le Musée de la Castre présente des collections appartenant à la ville de Cannes : arts primitifs (ou premiers) d'Himalaya-Tibet, Arctique, Amérique pré-colombienne, Océanie, antiquités méditerranéennes, instruments de musique du monde d'Asie, Afrique, Océanie, Amérique, peinture de paysage du XIXe siècle avec les petits maîtres de Provence.
Édifice conventuel (appartenant aux abbés de Lérins), il est construit sur un plan quadrangulaire, comme celui d’un château avec donjon, et il intègre dans son enceinte défensive un corps de logis et une chapelle. Au milieu de la cour centrale se dresse une tour carrée du XIIe siècle dont la hauteur pouvait permettre le guet. Elle offre un panorama exceptionnel à 360 ° sur Cannes et sa région.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMTQDR_Muse_de_la_Castre_Cannes_France

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Château is presently owned by an English family who have restored and modernised its facilities.
The chateau stood as a substantial property on this site in 1750 when it was used as a hunting lodge by the bishops of Brignoles. However, the octagonal tower is thought to date from the time of François 1er.
In the late nineteenth century Lord Alfred Paget, Chief Equerry to the Royal Household and 6th child of the1st Marquess of Anglesey, famed for leading the charge in the Battle of Waterloo, acquired the chateau.
His wife, Lady Cecilia Paget, was a lady-in-waiting and wardrobe mistress to Queen Victoria, who visited the chateau and planted the magnificent umbrella pine tree that provides pleasant shade to the main terrace. King Edward VII also visited on many occasions as he was attracted to one of the Paget daughters. The Paget family owned the property for almost 100 years.
In 1953 the chateau was bought by the Douglas family from Arizona, USA, who were responsible for the construction of the large oval swimming pool.
Subsequently the chateau was the home of the Comte and Comtesse de Chambrun (Raine Spencer, the stepmother of Diana, Princess of Wales). The chateau still contains Spencer furniture from Althorp, the Spencer family home.
https://www.garibondy.com

Château de Garibondy

Situated in the Bay of Cannes, the royal fort, a state prison, played host to the Iron Mask from 1687 to 1688 and then, after the war, to Marshall Bazaine.
To the south east of la Croisette, the archipelago of the Lérins islands separates the Gulf of Napoule to the west from the Gulf of Jouan to the east. It comprises four islands: two large ones (Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat) and two small ones (the islet of la Tradelière and the islet of Saint-Féréol). The island of Sainte-Marguerite is the closest to Cannes, just 700 metres from the Palm-Beach headland, and the most extensive, covering more than 160 hectares. The island takes its name from a chapel built there in honour of the martyr of Antioche during the first centuries of Christianity. After the occupation of the island by the Romans, whose traces still remain today, for many centuries Sainte-Marguerite belonged to the monks of Lérins. In 1617, the Duke de Guise gave Jean de Bellon the task of building a fort intended to block access to Cannes. Constructed between 1624 and 1627 on the site of remains dating back to Roman antiquity, at the time it was nothing more than a simple fortified house.
This small fortification was enlarged and strengthened by the Spanish who occupied the islands of Lérins from 1635. Two bastions and the first barrack buildings were added to the existing construction. With a garrison of approximately 800 men on the island of Sainte-Marguerite, the Spanish troops were faced with the vital question of supplying drinking water and invented a system for collecting rainwater, which fed into a large well built upon enormous tanks. Today you can still see the four decantation basins where the water was purified before filling one of the two tanks set under the well. In 1637, the French took back the Islands of Lérins, and named the citadel the Royal fort. The fortification was then considerably strengthened: the moats were made deeper, the curtain wall was raised and two demi-lunes were then linked to the fort by elevated walkways, which have since disappeared. The royal governor, Guitaut, also had a "tenaille" built, a low bastion placed in front of the entrance gates to the fort, which bears his name today.
At the end of the 17th Century, Louis XIV's general commissioner of fortifications personally inspected the fort, and gave instructions to strengthen the square. Work carried out as a result of Vauban's visit give the fort most of the appearance that we still recognise today. 26 metres above sea level, the structure projects over a rocky cliff on the northern coast of the Island of Sainte-Marguerite, opposite cape Croisette. It is a small fort that is pentagonal in shape, flanked by four bastions at its weak points, on the land side. On the coastal side, the structure's stone ramparts are supported by an earth embankment and blend remarkably into the sheer cliff. Inside the compound, a chapel, and several barns used to house the troops and the artillery stores still survive today. Amongst the latter, we can see the impressive building that constituted the powder store, surrounded by the walls of the royal bastion to the south of the fort, probably intended to reduce the consequences of any accidental explosion. After this, the structure was the subject of minor alterations. And so, in 1862, a semaphore was constructed by raising one of the fort's old towers. Later, during the occupation by German troops during the Second World War, a surveillance station was established on one of the fort's triangular promontories Today, several buildings are in ruins and the invading vegetation is gradually taking over the demi-lunes and the ramparts. However, teams of young workers from Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur have been helping to renovate the fort for more than thirty years. The ramparts have been made safe and building repairs and much restoration work have been carried out so as to make visits possible to this fortification, which is unique along the Cannes coastline.
From 1637 onwards the first cells were fitted out in the governor's château. But it was in 1685, at a time when the Royal fort accommodated a large garrison, that the fort was dedicated definitively and first and foremost to be used as a state prison. So, in 1687, Governor Saint-Mars, on the orders of Louis XIV, had a parallelepiped stone building constructed inside the compound, inside which several cells were soon fitted out. The prisoners held inside the fort include most notably: [list]the famous, but nevertheless unidentified, Iron Mask, held for 11 years from 1687 to 1698; [list]Six protestant pastors, imprisoned following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, from 1689 until their death in 1713; [list]Jean-Baptiste Suard, who would become the eternal secretary of the French Academy, incarcerated between 1751 and 1753; [list]The Smala d'Abd el-Kader, from 1843; [list]600 Austrian prisoners, detained in 1859 after the battle of Montebello; [list]Marshall Bazaine, the only prisoner to have escaped from the Royal fort in 1873, in what legend describes as a fantastic escape and after whom a terrace of the fort is today named. The Royal fort also has a smaller detention area, reserved for soldiers. The Museum of the Sea, located inside the fort, allows visitors to look at some of the cells, including that of the Iron Mask, as well as those occupied by the protestant pastors, to whom there is now a memorial.
On the Island of Sainte-Marguerite Although the Museum of the Sea allows visits to the inside of the Royal fort compound and its dark cells, it also has a second museographic area, which houses an important collection of submarine and land archaeology. In the heart of the old roman reservoirs and recently restored chambers, the museum exhibits the wrecks of boats that ran aground off the shores of the Islands of Lérins. Visitors can also see a model reconstruction of the roman water reservoir system, a collection of painted designs dating back to antiquity and a room housing aquariums presented by the permanent centre of initiatives for the environment, which display the underwater flora and fauna of the Mediterranean. Inside the fort, an entertainment and accommodation centre has been established which is able offer different types of holidays to a varied clientele: introductory classes and training courses for sport or cultural activities for schools, playing host to business associations or committees, organising seminars etc. Lastly, the island of Sainte-Marguerite is able to welcome around half a million visitors per year because it can also offer an extraordinary natural heritage. The island is criss-crossed by forest paths and a coastal path that allows a circuit of the island close to the clear seabed. A well-marked botanical trail allows visitors to spot the many kinds of maritime plants and trees. To the west of the island, the Batéguiers lake offers shelter to the many migrating birds that can be observed throughout the year. Its 150 hectares of pine and eucalyptus forests make the island of Sainte-Marguerite a unique setting for quiet walks along the coastline of the Alpes-Maritimes. The national forestry office is responsible for the protection of the island's remarkable forest plantations, welcoming the public by offering activities as an introduction to this rich natural environment. On the island of Saint-Honorat The island of Saint-Honorat has several chapels, constructed very early on to welcome pilgrims. Although today one of them is in ruins, the six others were restored in the 17th century and more recently with the aid of the original plans. At one end of the island there is a cannonball oven, employed by the artillery of the First Empire to heat the projectiles used to set fire to the wooden boats that threatened the coasts. The island is also home to the abbey of Lérins, which houses a community of about thirty monks of various nationalities, who cultivate lavender and work the vines. A jewel of the feudal architecture of the Provence area, the fortified monastery was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries and is open to the public. The abbey produces a liqueur made from around thirty aromatic plants, whose recipe remains secret and which must be consumed in moderation.
http://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/royal-fort-royal-island-sainte-marguerite

Fort royal de lîle Sainte-Marguerite

Le monastère fortifié est un édifice situé en France sur la commune de Cannes dans le département des Alpes-Maritimes en région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
Il est construit à partir de la fin du xie siècle par l'abbaye de Lérins sur la côte sud de l'île Saint-Honorat dans la baie de Cannes afin de protéger l’île, le monastère et ses occupants.
L'édifice fait l’objet d'un classement au titre des monuments historiques depuis 1840.
Historique
C'est vers 400-410, qu'Honorat et Caprais, se sont retirés sur l'île de Lérina, déjà citée par Pline l'Ancien, avec l'accord de l'évêque de Fréjus, Saint Léonce.
Construction d'une tour, refuge des moines en cas d'attaque par les Sarrasins
Autour de 732, cinq cents membres de la communauté, y compris l'abbé, saint Porcaire, sont massacrés sur l'île au cours d'un raid de Sarrasins. Selon la tradition, l'un des rares survivants, saint Elenthère rebâtit un nouveau monastère sur les ruines de l'ancien. Il est probable que l'abbaye est provisoirement abandonnée jusqu'au départ des Sarrasins de Fraxinet, en 973. Cette menace sarrasine n'a pas disparu ensuite car la Vita d'Isarn, abbé de Saint-Victor de Marseille, cite une attaque de l'abbaye de Lérins, en 1046. L'abbaye est pillée et plusieurs moines sont amenés en captivité en Espagne.
L'abbé Aldebert Ier commence la reconstruction de l'abbatiale Saint-Honorat. Elle est consacrée en 1088 par son successeur, Aldebert II, abbé de 1088 à 1103. C'est ce dernier qui commence la construction de la tour de défense comme en témoigne une lettre datée de 1101 envoyée par Hildebert de Lavardin à l'abbé de Cluny. Il indique qu'il a quitté l'île avant une attaque de barbaresques qui tuèrent plusieurs moines, les autres s'étant réfugiés dans une tour.
On trouve dans la partie basse de la tour des blocs en grand appareil provenant d'une construction antique.
Les papes vont intervenir pour aider à la protection des moines de l'abbaye :
Calixte II écrit une bulle, le 18 décembre 1120, dans laquelle il exhorte les chrétiens à secourir les moines de Lérins,
le même pape écrit le 2 janvier 1121 qu'ayant appris des moines la menace d'une expédition des Sarrasins contre l'abbaye, il accorde à ceux qui assurent sa défense jusqu'à la Saint-Michel une indulgence équivalente à celle pour un pèlerinage à Jérusalem.
Honorius II renouvelle le 27 décembre 1124 cette exhortation à défendre l'abbaye contre les «cruels». Il renouvelle les indulgences accordées à ceux qui participent à la défense de l'abbaye. Le pape demande à chacun de contribuer à la construction de la forteresse des moines.
Le même pape écrit le 5 janvier 1125 aux évêques de Riez, Fréjus, Nice et Antibes pour qu'ils restituent trois églises à l'abbaye dont « nos fils, l'abbé et les moines de Lérins, installés devant la gueule des Sarrasins, dans la crainte de la captivité, des chaînes et des périls de la mort ». Des moines de l'abbaye se sont rendus à la cour pontificale pour plaider leur cause.
La première tour a été construite progressivement de la fin du xie siècle à la fin du premier quart du xiie siècle. Les papes ont placé l'abbaye de Lérins au même niveau que Jérusalem. Cette première tour quadrangulaire est visible à l'intérieur dans la partie inférieure de l'édifice car elle a été doublée au xiiie siècle après l'agrandissement vers l'est. Son mur oriental forme la séparation avec la citerne du rez-de-chaussée et le cloître.
Agrandissement vers l'est
La tour est agrandie d'un bâtiment de plus grande dimension vers l'est et la tour primitive est chemisée sur trois côtés avec des blocs en moyen et grand appareil avec bossages rustiques. En l'absence de textes décrivant les différentes phases de construction, celles-ci doivent être retrouvées par la lecture des différentes parties de l'ouvrage.
Il y a donc des différences d'appréciations dans les phases de constructions données dans l'article du Congrès archéologique de 2010 et celui de 1932. En 1932, Robert Doré décrit une construction en deux campagnes de cet agrandissement en commençant par une tour au sud-est puis cette tour aurait été agrandie vers le nord pendant une deuxième campagne qui a duré du dernier quart du xiie siècle à la première moitié du xiiie siècle. Dans l'article du Congrès de 2010, les auteurs admettent que la construction de cette agrandissement a été faite sur toute sa surface mais qu'il a dû s'achever par la partie méridionale où l'apparence de la maçonnerie semble indiquer deux campagnes distinctes.
Cette tour a d'abord un rôle défensif, mais son agrandissement important lui a donné une apparence de résidence qui est marquée par les grandes ouverture faites dans le mur oriental, au deuxième niveau. Ces ouvertures éclairent une vaste salle, sorte de aula. C'est à ce niveau que se trouve la chapelle Sainte-Croix.
C'est ce rôle défensif du château que rappelle le pape Adrien IV dans une lettre du 13 juin 1158 aux consuls et au peuple de Grasse dans laquelle il les prie de secourir les moines contre les Sarrasins ou de perfides chrétiens en cas d'attaque du monastère ou d'un de leurs châteaux.
Le pape Lucius III accorde le 5 mai 1182 ou 1183 une bulle aux moines exhortant les fidèles à les aider à se fortifier car ils manquent de ressources.
Les constructions entreprises par les religieux commencent à peser sur leurs ressources financières. En 1241, l'abbé doit vendre la seigneurie de Roquefort-les-Pins aux habitants de Saint-Paul-de-Vence pour désendetter l'abbaye.
Installation d’un système de signalisation par des feux entre la tour du monastère fortifié et celle du Suquet, en 1327.
Le monastère fortifié
À partir de 1390, c'est dans la chapelle de la forteresse qu'ont lieu les professions de foi monastiques. Le 20 janvier 1392, les reliques de saint Honorat venues d'Arles sont déposées dans la tour. La chapelle Sainte-Croix est consacrée le 14 septembre 1392. La chapelle devient alors le saint des saints de l'abbaye comme l'indique une inscription du xve siècle.
C'est probablement la volonté de transformer le bâtiment construit contre la tour primitive pour en faire un cloître qu'un troisième agrandissement est effectué au sud de la tour pour compenser la perte d'espace. De ce troisième bâtiment n'ont été conservés que le rez-de-chaussée et le premier étage qui ont été une citerne et le réfectoire. Le second étage, détruit, au contact de la chapelle Sainte-Croix, devait servir de sacristie. Ces parties ont été construites par le moine Jean Castol, ouvrier du monastère, d'après Vincent Barralis.
Le chantier des deux cloîtres superposés commence par la construction d'un nouvel escalier, peu avant 1450. Cette construction est terminée en novembre 1459 d'après les comptes de l'ouvrier du monastère. Les marches sont faites en pierres rouges de l'Estérel apportées depuis Théoule, en 1460-1461. Le sol qui devait servir de fondation au cloître est creusé entre mai et octobre 1460 pour y installer une nouvelle citerne. Celle-ci est voûtée et dallée.
Entre 1460 et 1464, les ouvriers travaillent à l'aménagement des galeries du cloître inférieur. Les colonnes ont été apportées en février 1460. Ce sont des fûts en réemploi. Une d'elles est une borne milliaire. Faute d'argent, le chantier est arrêté du 29 juin 1462 au 3 janvier 1463. Le voûtement est entrepris en 1463-1464. Le chantier du rez-de-chaussée est terminé le 31 octobre 1464. Les travaux sont interrompus en 1465 faute d'argent.
Les travaux du cloître supérieur commencent en mars 1466. Isnard Gras entreprend de construire du cloître et des arcs diaphragmes devant supporter la charpente. Les douze colonnes en marbre et leurs chapiteaux sont apportés de Gênes le 28 janvier 1467. Une épidémie de peste touche les moines en 1467. Le 23 mai 1468 le maître fustier et ses deux compagnons ont fini la pose de la charpente et de la couverture. Par manque d'argent, le chantier s'arrête jusqu'au 6 février 1469. Le cloître supérieur est terminé en décembre 1470.
C'est probablement le coût élevé de la construction du château et de sa transformation en monastère fortifié qui explique l'absence de remaniements de l'église abbatiale.
À la fin du Moyen Âge, le monastère fortifié va concurrencer les autres bâtiments monastiques qui ont été peu à peu désaffectés. Les religieux vont résider dans la tour jusqu'en 1788.
En 1613, dom Vincent Barralis Salerne (moine à l'abbaye de Lérins, né à Lucéram dans la seconde moitié du xvie siècle) publie à Lyon la Chronologia Sanctorum & aliorum virorum Illustrium, at Abbatum Sacrae Insula Lerinensis qui donne la première description du monastère fortifié qui comprend alors 90 pièces, soit 30 cellules, une église, trois chapelles permettant de recevoir entre 15 et 30 moines.
Nouvelles attaques contre l'abbaye
En 1400, le monastère est saccagé par les corsaires génois de Salageri. Par la suite, la tour est défendue en permanence par des serviteurs, puis, à partir de 1437, par des soldats provençaux, et, en 1481, par des soldats français, qui résident en permanence dans les étages supérieurs du monastère fortifié.
L'abbaye est mise en commende en 1464.
L'abbaye est réunie à la Congrégation de Sainte-Justine et du Mont-Cassin, en 1515. Les premiers moines arrivent le 3 mai 1516.
En 1524, la flotte espagnole occupe l'île, saccage et pille l'abbaye.
Au xvie siècle a été ajoutée une barbacane pour renforcer la défense de la tour.
Quand les Espagnols occupent les îles de Lérins, en 1635, le monastère et l'abbaye vont être englobés dans une fortification de l'île Saint-Honorat obligeant les moines à trouver refuge à Vallauris. Le roi de France décide de réunir l'abbaye à la congrégation de Saint-Maur, en 1638, malgré l'opposition du pape.
L'île a été occupée par les troupes françaises et des troupes des pays auxquelles elles s'opposent au gré des conflits.
En 1746, le capitaine qui défend la tour doit se rendre aux troupes austro-sardes.
Sécularisation de l'abbaye
En 1787, l'abbaye est sécularisée au profit de l'évêque de Grasse. Elle ne comptait plus alors que 4 moines.
L'île Saint-Honorat et le monastère sont achetés en 1791 par Jean Alziary de Roquefort. Sa fille, l'actrice Marie-Blanche, connue sous le nom de Sainval, réside dans le monastère fortifié jusqu'en 1817. Ses héritiers vendent en 1830 à un commerçant de Vallauris, Jean-Louis Sicard. Ils deviennent ensuite la propriété d'un pasteur anglican, le révérend Henry Belmont Smith qui a entrepris de construire à Cannes, en 1854, le château de La Bocca, aujourd'hui détruit. En 1859, Mgr Henri Jordany, évêque de Fréjus rachète l'île Saint-Honorat pour la somme de 55 000 francs. L'abbaye est restaurée à partir de 1869.
Le monastère fortifié fait l’objet d’un classement par liste au titre des monuments historiques en 1840.

Monastère fortifié de l'abbaye de Lérins

The Château de la Napoule is a restored French castle, located in Mandelieu-la-Napoule in the Alpes-Maritimes Department of France, It has been classified as an historical landmark since 1993, and the gardens are listed by the French Ministry of Culture as among the Notable gardens of France. It was featured as one of the main locations in the 1999 movie Simon Sez.
History
The castle was constructed in the 14th century by the Countess of Villeneuve. Over the centuries it was rebuilt several times. In the 19th century it was turned into a glass factory. In 1918, it was purchased by Americans, Henry Clews Jr. and Marie Clews (1880-1959), who restored and moved into the castle. They added additional sections in their own personal style, with sculptures by Henry Clews Jr. The castle is owned by the La Napoule Art Foundation, which was founded in 1951 by Marie Clews, and serves as a cultural centre.
After Henry's death and during the Second World War, the castle was captured by German soldiers. Marie Clews served the soldiers by acting as the maid of the castle's staff so she could stay close to her home and the memory of her husband.
The gardens
When the Clewses acquired the castle, the park had cedar and eucalyptus trees, and had been abandoned for years. Marie Clews began the restoration of the gardens. The park of the castle today has elements of a garden à la française and of an English landscape garden, with a grand alley, basins, perspectives, and views of the sea. In addition, there are three smaller gardens in the Italian style: the Garden de la Mancha next to the Tower of La Mancha, under which the mausoleum of the Clews family is located; the terraces which overlook the Bay of Cannes, which are planted with cypress trees, hedges and rosemary; and the secret garden, in a corner of the walls with windows looking at the sea, with a Venetian well in the centre.
Sources
This article is an edited translation from the French Wikipedia, with additional information from the site of the Committee of Parks and Gardens of the Ministry of Culture of France.

Château de la Napoule

Fort Carré, often Fort Carré d'Antibes, is a 16th-century star-shaped fort of four arrow-head shaped bastions, that stands on the outskirts of Antibes, France. Henri de Mandon built the fort and then during the 17th century, the Marquis de Vauban redeveloped it.
History
The Romans probably built the first fortifications at Antibes. In 1553, a tower called la tour Saint-Florent was built around a preexisting chapel. Henry III had four bastions added in 1565, whereupon it became Fort Carré (the squared fort).
In the 1680s, Vauban strengthened Fort Carré, adding traverses to protect against ricochet fire and exchanging the stone parapets, which were liable to scatter deadly splinters when hit by shot, for brick ones. Vauban also enlarged the embrasures and added outer walls to the fortification.
Later, the fort's design was modified to take eighteen cannon. The entrance to the fort is through a triangular work that protrudes from the walls, and which is loopholed and pierced by a heavy wooden door. From here, there is a narrow bridge that leads into the fort itself via the flank of one of the arrow-headed bastions. Inside, there are barrack buildings for officers and men as well as the ancient chapel, which has been preserved through the successive stages of military development of the site.
In addition to improving the defences of Fort Carré, Vauban fortified Antibes itself, adding a land front of four arrow-headed bastions around the town, as well as seaward fortifications, including a bastion on the breakwater closing the harbor.
During the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte was briefly imprisoned here. In July 1794, after the violent overthrow of Robespierre, General Bonaparte was detained as a Jacobin sympathizer and held in Fort Carré for ten days. His friend and political ally, Antoine Christophe Saliceti, secured his release.
Then in 1860, the fort played an important role when France annexed Nice.

Fort Carré

The Musée Picasso, formerly the Château Grimaldi at Antibes, is built upon the foundations of the ancient Greek town of Antipolis. Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France, on the Mediterranean Sea.
History
In 1608 it became a stronghold of the Grimaldi family and has borne their name ever since. In 1702 it became the town hall of Antibes.
From 1925 the chateau was known as the Grimaldi Museum. In 1946 it was the home for six months of the artist Pablo Picasso. Today the museum is known as the Picasso Museum, the first museum in the world to be dedicated to the artist.
Picasso himself donated works to the museum, most notably his paintings The Goat and La Joie de Vivre. In 1990 Jacqueline Picasso bequeathed many works by Picasso to the museum. These included 4 paintings, 10 drawings, 2 ceramics and 6 etchings. These are displayed at the Château in addition to the 3 works on paper, 60 etchings and 6 carpets by Pablo Picasso which the museum collected between 1952 and 2001. Today the collection totals 245 works by Picasso.

Musée Picasso (Antibes)

The Château Grimaldi at Cagnes-sur-Mer in the département of Alpes-Maritimes, in France, is built on the site of an earlier fortress occupied by the Greeks and then the Romans. The present castle was built in 1309 by Rainier Grimaldi (Lord of Cagnes and an admiral of France) - a distant ancestor of the present ruling house of Monaco. Later it became the residence of the Governors of the province. Following the French Revolution, it was used as barracks and later as a hospital. Now owned by the city of Cagnes, it is known as le Château Musée Grimaldi (the Grimaldi Castle and Museum).
Built upon a hilltop, the castle towers over the town. Constructed in the local stone, it retains many of its original medieval features and motifs, it is machicolated with crenelations surmounting its towers and keep. The castle is built around a triangular courtyard. During the reign of Louis XIII (1610 to 1643) the castle was altered, and the principal rooms made more comfortable and redecorated in the contemporary taste. The great hall has a painted ceiling depicting the Fall of Phaëton, completed in the 1620s by the Genovese painter Giulio Benso (though sometimes attributed to Giovanni Battista Carlone), while the chapel has a ceiling painted with folk scenes.
Today the castle is an exhibition centre for contemporary art from around the world, and a museum of modern art.

Château Grimaldi

The Château de La Colle Noire is a property located at the entrance of the Pays of Fayence, on the border of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var region. It is built on a promontory overlooking the plains of Montauroux. The chateau is surrounded by a park with a chapel dedicated to St Anne. The ensemble dates from the middle of the 19th century and was entirely redesigned by Christian Dior from 1950. It has been the property of Parfums Christian Dior since 2013 and is not open to the public.
History
From the 15th century to the beginning of the 19th century, the site was described in various ways: La Colle Narbonne, La Colle, La Colle Noire, La Colle dwelling etc. However, it was from 1826 that the domain finally took shape, when Henri-Emmanuel Poulle (1792–1877), lawyer, first president of the Court of Aix-en-Provence and deputy of the Var region, from an old family of Montauroux, became owner of the "domain of La Colle" and took the neighbouring hamlet's name to become the "domain de La Colle Noire".
In 1839 Henri-Emmanuel Poulle created a staging post on the estate which later on would serve as the base for the future chateau. Over time, through various acquisitions, the estate reached an area of more than 100 hectares, becoming a vast agricultural operation, composed mainly of plowing fields, pastures, vines and muriers. In 1858, at the age of 66, Henri-Emmanuel Poulle decided to build a residence for his retirement. The construction lasted three years, from 1858 to 1861. The facade with its two emblematic towers that dominate the valley, dates from that time. It was also during this period that H-E. Poulle had a chapel dedicated to St Anne, in reference to his daughter Anne-Victoire. Henri-Emmanuel Poulle also had a chapel dedicated to Saint Barthélémy in the village of Montauroux near the parish church. Due to the loss of its land title, it could not be sold as a national asset under the French Revolution and was thus protected from vandalism during the 1870 revolution. It passed into the heritage of H-E. Poulle and was transmitted to Christian Dior who offered it to the commune of Montauroux in 1953. The chapel was built in 1634 by the White Penitents, and still has today the wooden painted decor which adorns the walls as well as the vault.
Upon the death of Henri-Emmanuel Poulle in 1877, the property passed on to his daughter, Anne-Victoire (1827–1894), married to Félix Reibaud, postmaster of the sector. Anne-Victoire was very pious and obtained permission from the Bishop of Frejus to allow the priest of Montauroux to say mass in the chapel St Anne every Sunday except for Christmas, Easter and other festivals. The inhabitants of the neighborhood became accustomed to hearing Mass at La Colle Noire. The St Anne chapel is still consecrated today. On the death of Anne-Victoire in 1894, his son Paul Félix Honoré Reibaud inherited the estate of La Colle Noire. Head of office at the Ministry of Justice in Paris, he showed little interest in the property located in the remote Var region where his family originated. The property was ceded to an industrialist named Fayolle, whose widow resold the estate in 1921 to Pierre Grosselin. On October 25, 1950, the property, with an area of 50 hectares, comprising a noble house, agricultural buildings and land cultivated mainly in vines and flowers, was bought by Christian Dior.
Christian Dior and La Colle Noire
Famous and recognized – his house of couture was created in 1946 and his house of perfumes in 1947 – Christian Dior acquired this emblematic property in a region that he knew well. Indeed, his father, a widow since 1931, lived close by in the plain of Callian with his young sister Catherine who was the inspiration for the perfume Miss Dior, "And then Miss Dior was born. She was born from those evenings of Provence crossed by fireflies where the green jasmine serves as a counter-song to the melody of the night and the earth".
It was therefore in the Provence dear to his heart, in the inaccessible Var inland that Christian Dior would develop his house, far from Paris and 30 Avenue Montaigne, home of his couture house. "It is in Montauroux, near Callian, where a lucky star allowed me, fifteen years ago, to find tranquility and prepare a new existence. Of the house, I can not say much because I'm restoring it. It is simple, solid and noble, and its serenity suits the period of life that I will have to tackle in a few years. That house, I wish it to be my real home. That where – if God lends me long life – I can withdraw. That where – if I have the means – I can close the loop of my existence and find, under another climate, the closed garden that protected my childhood. That is where I can finally live quietly, forgetting Christian Dior to just become Christian again. It is at Montauroux that I write these last lines".
Christian Dior entrusted the restoration and renovation of La Colle Noire from 1955 to the Russian architect Andreï Svetchine. His friends Raymonde Zehnacker in Mougins and Marc Chagall in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Saint-Paul-de-Vence had also solicited this architect, specialized in the transformation of "rural dwellings, neither simple farms nor real castles". He considered that the architectural balance was enough to decorate a house and thus the stonework was laid bare, the perspectives restored and enlarged, the accesses redesigned including the transformation of the service wing into a main entrance with an end resemblance of an 18th-century Bastide.
Planted with cypress trees, a walkway leads to the hexagonal entrance hall, an atrium designed by Christian Dior himself, where the Provençal calade floor has a pattern of compass rose dear to his childhood in Normandy. The south facade is asymmetrical and is in the 1940-50's Provençal style. The chateau is reflected in the 45 meters long ornamental water mirror, also designed by Christian Dior, showing a contrast between the sinuosity of the landscape and the rigor of its straight lines.
Completely redesigned, the new layout includes a large staircase with zenital lighting leading to guest rooms for “passing friends”, a succession of reception rooms, including the large salon measuring more than 18 metres long opening onto a terrace overlooking the mirror of water. It combines vintage furniture, comfort from the 1950s, references to Provence or England, "Christian Dior wanted to invent an art of living at the Colle Noire", Andreï Svetchine declared. The reception rooms and Christian Dior's apartment are furnished with eclecticism, decorated with objects from the 18th and 19th centuries bought from antique dealers, some rooms have a Louis XV, Louis XVI or Retour d'Egypte style.
The Provence inspired Christian Dior to create Miss Dior in 1947 and it was the Lily of the Valley of La Colle Noire that was at the origin of Diorissimo, created in 1956 by Edmond Roudnitska. It is this tradition and art that has inspired François Demachy the perfumer-creator of Parfums Christian Dior to create La Colle Noire, whom the May Rose flower is provided by the field planted as a tribute in the estate's park.
After the death of Christian Dior on October 23, 1957, his sister Catherine inherited the estate although she was unable to maintain the chateau and it was resold to the Laroches, owners of La Reserve in Beaulieu and then to Mr. and Mrs. Tassou. The British group Oasis recorded in part its fourth album 'Standing on the shoulder of giants' from April to August 1999.
In 2013 Parfums Christian Dior bought La Colle Noire.
After an intense restoration begun in 2015, La Colle Noire was inaugurated by the Parfums Christian Dior on May 9, 2016 in the presence of Charlize Theron, regaining its vocation to welcome "the friends of the house". The Chateau de La Colle Noire illustrates this return to source, with the cultivation of flowers and the creation of perfumes in the “great Grasse countryside” that has been the inspiration for the Christian Dior fragrances.

Château de La Colle Noire

Having been deserted for a long time it was known as the "Gordo Site" it then became Gordon" and finally Gourdon. .
758 mètres of a remarkable rocky peak. 
A stony and lavender scented landmark situated in the vast Roman Province which the natives retained as "province", characterised it and it became the marvellous "Provence" as it is today. 
But the Romans went back to Rome and the barbarian settled in. Frank kings conquered and Saracens troops demolished. The castle became refuge and natural shelter to the valley's farmers.
In the IX century, three centuries before Paris laid down the very first stone for the construrtion of the Louvre, the Gourdon castle had already existed. Certainly different to what it is today, the old foundation still exits, grounded in the rock, witness to a thousand year past.
From then on, the destiny of Gourdon was to be an armed sentry, guarding as far as the sea's horizon and controlling the troops in procession. Being at the forefront of France, in comparison to the house of Vintimille, future Earl of Nice situated on foreign and hostile ground. 
Up until the XII century, the Earls of the Pronnce, drew up plans of a real fortress to make their frontier more resilient. They razed, rebuilt and strengthened the c astle. Insurmountable high walls were razed in the north wing, and look out posts on the southern and western side of the castle. Later on, with three towers and a dungeon crowning the castle, with a watchful eye, and an arm in hand, Gourdon watched out for France.
https://www.provenceweb.fr/06/chateau-gourdon/ukhistoire.htm