{"id":741,"date":"2025-12-21T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/castles-around-cotignac-6-remarkable-sites-in-provence-verte\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T10:54:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T09:54:53","slug":"castles-around-cotignac-6-remarkable-sites-in-provence-verte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/castles-around-cotignac-6-remarkable-sites-in-provence-verte\/","title":{"rendered":"Castles around Cotignac: 6 remarkable sites in Provence Verte"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Provence Verte lives up to its name. It’s an ocean of oaks, vines and pines. But when you raise your eyes to the ridges or follow the course of a river, the landscape hardens. Stone reigns supreme. <\/p>\n\n

Around Cotignac<\/strong>, several castles form a fascinating historical geography. For us at Beaumas, these buildings are not just monuments: they are masters. They teach us how to build with the landscape, how to tame the slope and how to cross the centuries. <\/p>\n\n

Here’s our roadmap for an architectural stroll through the valley’s guardians.<\/p>\n\n

1. Entrecasteaux: Classic harmony<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

10 minutes from Cotignac<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Entrecastaux
Photo: Lilie&Mick – CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

It’s the next-door neighbor, the one you can’t miss. Resting on its rocky outcrop, Ch\u00e2teau d’Entrecasteaux is strikingly elegant. It’s the perfect blend of the military rigor of a fortress and the gentle lifestyle of a pleasure residence. What really catches our eye here are the gardens. Designed in the spirit of Le N\u00f4tre, they create a fascinating dialogue: the string-trimmed boxwoods respond to the wild disorder of the surrounding forest. A lesson in balance. <\/p>\n\n

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Please note <\/strong>: Ch\u00e2teau closed until further notice. 83570 Entrecasteaux* <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Montfort-sur-Argens : The enigma of the Templars<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

15 minutes from Correns and Carc\u00e8s<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Montfort-sur-Argens
Photo: Lilie&Mick – CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

In the village of Montfort-sur-Argens stands the Ch\u00e2teau des Templiers, one of the Order’s few and most important commanderies in the Var. This site is a lesson in historical resilience: after the fall of the Knights Templar, the castle passed to the Order of Hospitallers (Order of Malta), who rebuilt and transformed it. It features a fascinating blend of medieval military architecture (the square towers) and Renaissance elements (mullioned windows, genoises on the roof). It embodies the permanence of the place, which, whatever the era, has always been a center of power and management of agricultural estates, a notion of heritage that spans the centuries. <\/p>\n\n

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Private castle, visible from outside only. 13 Rue du Ch\u00e2teau, 83570 Montfort-sur-Argens <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Vins-sur-Caramy: the breath of rebirth<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

20 minutes south of Cotiganc<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Château
\u00a9Fr.Latreille<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

As we descend towards the Caramy valley, the scenery changes. The Ch\u00e2teau de Vins takes us by surprise. Here, the medieval fortress has given way to the grace of the Renaissance. You can feel the Italian influence: a courtyard of honor designed for light, loggias, architecture made for music and the arts. Restored with infinite patience by its current owners, it is living proof that a place can rise from its ashes if you put your heart into it. A resilience that inspires us every day. <\/p>\n\n

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1 Les Pr\u00e9s du Ch\u00e2teau, 83170 Vins-sur-Caramy<\/em>www.chateaudevins.fr<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Saint-Martin-de-Palli\u00e8res: The stone giant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

25 minutes west of Cotiganc<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"Saint-Martin-de-Pallières
\u00a9Fr.Latreille<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

You have to climb to reach it. Ch\u00e2teau de Saint-Martin is a colossus. Austere and immense, it dominates the entire Haut-Var region with silent authority. But his real treasure is hidden. In its bowels lies the “Cath\u00e9drale Souterraine”, a monumental water cistern, the only one of its kind in Europe. It reminds us that in Provence, the real luxury has always been water. The ingenuity deployed here to capture and conserve this resource is a marvel of functional architecture.<\/p>\n\n

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451 Chem. du Ch\u00e2teau, 83560 Saint-Martin-de-Palli\u00e8res<\/em>chateausaintmartindepallieres.wordpress.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5. Correns & Miraval: The secret<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

15 minutes west of Cotignac<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Continuing towards Correns, France’s first organic village, we come across another silhouette: Fort Gibron. This former 12th-century abbey residence, now a cultural center, watches over the Argens River. But it’s in the hollow of the valley that the most famous of all estates is hidden: Miraval. Although its doors remain closed to the public, its presence permeates the valley. This is the archetypal Provencal wine estate that has become a global icon, combining exceptional terroir and absolute confidentiality. A perfect example of those “off-market” places whose value lies as much in their walls as in the secrecy that surrounds them.<\/p>\n\n

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Fort Gibron, BP 24, 83570 Correns Ch\u00e2teau de Miraval, 83570 Correns<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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6. La Verdi\u00e8re: The stamp of nobility<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

35 minutes northwest of Cotignac<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Château
Photo: Rvalette – CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

For lovers of grand pageantry, the Ch\u00e2teau de La Verdi\u00e8re is the place to be. Often considered the largest in the region, it bears witness to the opulence of the great Provencal families. With its impressive dimensions and classical architecture, it offers a different interpretation of history: one of grandeur and durability. He reminds us that in the Var, heritage is not only in small stones, but also in the splendors of nobility.<\/p>\n\n

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Closed to the public since 2023. 17 Rue Claude de Forbin, 83560 La Verdi\u00e8re<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why take the Var castles route?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Because these places shape our imagination. When we visit a bastide or village house for you, we often seek out, without saying so, those details inherited from the great lords: the reassuring thickness of a wall, the freshness of a vault, the nobility of a cut stone.<\/p>\n\n

These castles bear witness to the fact that beauty, when it’s right, is eternal.<\/p>\n\n

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Some of these places are private or open only occasionally. We invite you to check opening times before setting off to meet them.Did you like this itinerary?<\/em>Discover other inspirations in our <\/em>Notebooks<\/em><\/strong> or <\/em>contact us<\/em><\/strong> to write your own Provence story.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Provence Verte lives up to its name. It’s an ocean of oaks, vines and pines. But when you raise your eyes to the ridges or follow the course of a river, the landscape hardens. Stone reigns supreme. Around Cotignac, several castles form a fascinating historical geography. For us at Beaumas, these buildings are not just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-guide"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":743,"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions\/743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beaumas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}