Originally the site of a Roman villa and home for centurions. In the 12th century, the Knights Templar established the castle as a commandery. Surrounded by its Middle Ages walls, it is known as le petit Carcassonne (little Carcassonne). Modified in the 16th century, it was restored and remodelled in the 19th by Viollet-le-Duc. Listed as a monument historique in 1923, the site is privately owned and run as a hotel and the centre of a vineyard of 1.1 km² (270 acres) producing 4,200,000 litres a year.