Barbentane (French pronunciation: [baʁbɑ̃tan]; Occitan: Barbentana) is a commune of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southern France.
This Roman general established his camp in the Montagnette before going to crush the Cimbri and the Teutons on the plain of Pourrières (near Aix-en-Provence) in 102 BC.
This came at the time of the Pax Romana which lasted for four centuries and of which many vestiges remain (sarcophagi and foundations in the upper village, etc.)
A time of peace was followed the successive invasions of the Alemanni, the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Franks, the Lombards, the Normans, and the Saracens.
Enhanced fortifications and expansion of the church date from the same era as the Maison des Chevaliers and the construction of the Tour Anglica (Angelica Tower) in 1364-1365.
This tower was named after Bishop Anglic de Grimoard, the brother of Pope Urban V and built for the modest sum of 4,000 florins.
During the French Revolution the priest of Barbentane, who was a Juror, was thrown bound and gagged into the Durance during the First White Terror of 1795.
Its large alluvial plain allows intensive, high quality agriculture, in historical times based mainly on autarkical crops—wheat, beans, etc.
However, the construction of the main Paris–Marseille railway via Lyon (the PLM) in the 1840s led to the replacement in local agricultures of madders by other fruit and vegetables.
Farmers practiced a triennial crop rotation and continued their activities in winter with the harvest of olives and almonds in the Montagnette, and culture of salad plants (e.g. lettuce), cabbages, and spinach on the plain.
These two main economic activities are major users of manpower and this has led to strong immigration from Italy and Spain since ancient times and this lasted until the 1960s.
Today the stone quarries have completely disappeared and agriculture has lost its primacy as the main activity of the village.
Barbentane has its culinary specialty, "Les Tirettes" which are made from a special pâte and eaten at Sunday lunch and on holidays.
[22] The Church and bell tower are probably located on the site of an older building (possibly a Roman temple or chapel).
It was extended the first time by Cardinal Grimoard, brother of Pope Urban V, in the 14th century by the addition of two Gothic bays and an apse in 1324.
The Church contains many items that are registered as historical objects: The village has appeared in several scenes in the film by Les Charlots called Stadium Nuts released in 1972.