Tarascon

Tarascon is a city of the Bouches-du-Rhône département, in the south of France. Population: 15,000 inhabitants.

Tarascon is located 23 km south of Avignon and 20 km north of Arles, on the banks of the Rhone River, opposite of the city of Beaucaire.

Highlights:

• medieval castle
• historical city center, including the rue des Halles and its arcades
• Sainte-Marthe church, where, according to a local tradition, the biblical figure Martha is buried. The church was built half-romanesque in the 12th century and half-gothic in the 14th century. The crypt dates from the 3rd century.
• Hotel de Ville (1648)
• Cloitre des Cordeliers, 16th century cloister[?]

Mythological monster: the Tarasque is said to have lived there at the beginning of the 1st century, and was tamed by Martha in 48 AD.

Book: Tartarin de Tarascon (1872), by Alphonse Daudet. Since 1985, a small museum in the city is dedicated to the fictional character Tartarin.

A festival is held every year on the last Sunday of June to remember Tartarin and the Tarasque.

The medieval castle

The construction of the current castle of Tarascon was started in 1401 by Louis II of Anjou[?], after the previous castle was destroyed. The construction was continued by his first son, Louis III of Anjou[?], and was completed in 1449 by his second son, Rene I of Naples.

It was turned into a military prison in the 17th century, until its acquisition by the state in 1932.