Built at the end of the 16th century following a five-year siege in a context of religious tensions, the citadel of Ménerbes formed a city within the city in the 17th century. It housed a bread oven and large reserves of food and equipment (firewood, oats for horses, flour) provided by the inhabitants of the village to face the Huguenot threat that lasted until the 1680s. The community of Ménerbes also paid the salaries of the soldiers and the governor who occupied the citadel and protected the village.