Discover or rediscover the Cathar castles

You don't have to go and see these castles by immersing yourself in their history, but generally those who do venture there - they often have to have the courage of a climber - draw their physical motivation from their interest in history. And knowing their history adds an almost indispensable dimension.

We're talking here about the château de Lastours, the château de Puivert, the château de Saissac, the château de Montségur, the château de Villerouge-Termenès and the royal citadels of Aguilar, Peyrepertuse, Puilaurens, Quéribus and Termes.

Let's go back in time and immerse ourselves in the Middle Ages, which shouldn't be difficult as you're from Carcassonne! First of all, you need to know that at that time, our eastern border with Spain was further north than it is today, and that in 1210, for example, Toulouse, Carcassonne and Narbonne were Spanish, and Catalan to be exact.

Hence the need for the crown to defend its lands by erecting impregnable fortresses, perched high up so that they could see far and discourage Iberian or even Moorish invaders from reaching them (the Almohads occupied the whole of southern Spain at the time).

So it is, for example, with the castle of Quéribus, built in Cucugnan in the 10th century, where it stands upright on a rocky spur. But what does this have to do with the Cathars of the 13th century, you might ask? The answer is simple: the castles known today as Cathar castles have little to do with the Cathars, who were one-offs in history, whereas they lived through the ages.

It's a myth created by the confusion of romantic writers of the 19th century with a very approximate approach to history, who believed that it was the crusade against the Albigensians, in other words against the Cathars, that had caused the collapse of all these castles. In reality, the state of ruin of these castles has little to do with the Cathars.

These castles, built around the year 1000, often on castra dating from antiquity, survived the Cathars. Military necessity turned them into feudal fortresses until their use dried up with the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, which pushed back the border with Spain. This signalled their demise. In fact, the term "Cathar castle" only appeared in historical literature in the last century. And with it the Cathar country.

This castle is undoubtedly one of the most impressive in the series, even though it has been in ruins for centuries. It stands on a remarkable ridge over 300 m long, in the commune of Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse in the Aude department, 80 km from Carcassonne (it takes an average of 1 hour 45 minutes to get there by road).

A visit is well worthwhile, as it stands at an altitude of 800m and the car parks are below the ridge. The staircase leading up to the citadel is carved into the rock itself. If you've been to Mont Saint-Michel, you'll understand the image.

Once you reach the château-fort, you will enter on the same level, through a gate that seems very small in the wall above it, into its low triangular enclosure spread over several levels. You can then slip into the shoes of the infantrymen of the royal garrison who spent whole years here, living in the hollow of this fortress, without ever seeing the horizon except by peering through the loopholes. To overcome this isolation, a church, Sainte-Marie, was added in the 12th century. You'll also want to remember the workmen of the time who, often in very hot conditions, hauled away tonnes of stone under the supervision of the royal architects to raise this imposing edifice from the ground.

Several dozen metres higher, another rocky outcrop and the San Jordi keep complete the impregnability of the citadel. It's not for nothing that it's nicknamed the "Little Celestial Carcassonne". Only the eagle will have a better view of the valley than you.