Château féodal d'Ollioules

Set on the slope of the Sainte-Barbe hill, in the Var, the castle of Ollioules watched over the plain stretching towards the coast and, above all, the gorge, the only route to the hinterland. From the beginning of the Christian era, a Roman lookout post stood on the north of the site; very little of it survives, as successive alterations led to the demolition and reuse of most of the original buildings.

It is not known who occupied the site between the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the feudal period. Extensively remodelled, enlarged and heightened between the 12th and 14th centuries, the castle was abandoned in the early 14th century, when the inhabitants of Ollioules bought almost all the feudal rights from their lords. It was then left to fall apart for centuries, until it was acquired in 1974 by Mr and Mrs Pageze, who set about clearing and preserving the remains.

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