Château de Javon

The Château de Javon, in the Vaucluse, has a north façade with an entrance door under a rather Gothic basket arch, topped by an ogee gable that is very Renaissance for Provence.

It belonged to the Baroncelli family, of old nobility from Tuscany, whose branches held high office in the republics of Florence and Pisa. Pierre Baroncelli, exiled during the troubles that accompanied the rise of the Medici in the early 15th century, took refuge in Avignon, where his descendants settled and produced twelve Knights of Malta, ambassadors, abbots, cardinals and senior officers. The Chevalier de Javon, general of the galleys of the Order of Malta, distinguished himself in the Order's wars against the Turks around 1700.

The family acquired the seigneury of Javon in 1475; it was granted in perpetuity by Pope Leo X to François Baroncelli as a reward for his services, and the château probably dates from that time.

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