Tarascon Castle

The castle of Tarascon rises straight out of the Rhone with almost no batter, a smooth wall of pale stone about forty-eight metres high, built between 1400 and 1435 largely for Louis II of Anjou and completed under King Rene, who held court here in the fifteenth century. Because it was used as a prison from the seventeenth century until 1926 rather than being rebuilt, the medieval fabric survived unusually intact, and the walls carry graffiti cut by prisoners, including ships drawn by English sailors held during the wars. The town also keeps the legend of the Tarasque, a river monster tamed by Saint Martha and paraded in a June festival.

What you actually see

• The river wall - a sheer forty-eight-metre facade rising from the Rhone.
• The prisoners' graffiti - carved ships and marks in the interior stone.
• The royal apartments - fifteenth-century rooms of King Rene's court.
• The roof terrace - a view over the Rhone to Beaucaire opposite.

When to go

April to October; the castle opens year-round with shorter winter hours. The Tarasque festival falls in late June. The roof terrace is exposed to the mistral.

Honest expectations

The interior is largely bare stone rooms with little furnishing, the prison years having stripped it. There are many stairs. The town outside is modest.

Nearby

Arles lies south; Avignon is northeast.