Château d'Èze

Château d'Èze crowns the village of Èze, high above the Mediterranean on France’s French Riviera. Ruined walls occupy the summit. Narrow medieval streets, old stone houses, and panoramic views surround the remains within Èze’s exotic garden.

Iron Age inhabitants sheltered on this rocky outcrop, leaving fragments of cyclopean walls behind. The Èze family built the medieval castle during the second half of the twelfth century. Counts of Provence and later Dukes of Savoy used the fortress to defend Èze and control its surroundings. King Louis the Fourteenth ordered its destruction in seventeen hundred six during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Visitors began reaching these ruins during the Belle Époque, drawn by their history and elevated views. Mathias Gabriel Lory painted the castle in the early nineteenth century. The broken fortress still shows Èze’s defensive past above the Mediterranean.