Château de l'Empéri

The Château de l'Empéri is a 9th-century castle built on the rock of Puech which dominates the immense plain of Crau in the commune of Salon-de-Provence in the Bouches-du-Rhône département of France. It is listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1956.

The castle was the residence of the archbishops of Arles as well as the Holy Roman emperors. It is from the latter that the castle derives its name of the Empire which at this time included the East bank of the Rhône River. During 1481, at the time of the junction with Provence, it came under the power of kings of France. Arranged and embellished during the 15th and 16th centuries it was used as jails and barracks after the Révolution time. Hardly damaged by an earthquake in 1909, the buildings were restored by the Monuments Historiques during 1926 and hosted the museum of the old Salon, before hosting now the present museum of Art and History Military.