Tarascon castle

France. The castle of King Rene - Tarascon - is located on a rocky island on the banks of the Rhone in Provence, in the city of the same name. The castle was built from 1401 to 1449. A legend is known from an ancient manuscript explaining the origin of the name of the city and the castle. The essence of this legend is that the terrible monster - Tarasque, who is neither an animal nor a fish, had to sacrifice eight people every six months to pacify. So the inhabitants had to create a special bloody queue with the aim of "feeding" the monster. Somehow a certain Martha came to this city, who herself volunteered to enter the eight death row. Miraculously, she managed to stop the monster, tie a silk ribbon around his neck and bring him to the town square. There, according to legend, local residents dealt with him. If the first thing that made Tarascon famous was the monster, then the second was Rene the Good, the French king. During his reign, Tarascon flourished as never before. The castle became famous after the publication in 1872 of The Unusual Adventures of Tartarin of Tarascon, a satirical novel by Alphonse Daudet.

In 1926 the castle became a museum.