Photo : Jean-Christophe BENOIST / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)
Château de Peyrepertuse
The Château de Peyrepertuse stands at about 800 metres' altitude, on a limestone ridge of the Corbières, above the village of Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse, in the Aude. The fortress, 300 metres long and at most 60 metres wide, overlooks the surrounding valleys and vineyards.
A first fortification existed as early as the tenth century. After the crusade against the Albigensians, the site was ceded to King Louis IX in 1239, and major reconstruction work was carried out around 1250-1251. The Treaty of Corbeil of 1258 fixed the border between France and Aragon nearby; the castle lost its strategic interest after the Treaty of the Pyrenees, in 1659.
The complex has two parts: the lower castle, which houses the Romanesque church of Sainte-Marie, and the higher Sant Jordi keep, reached by the Saint-Louis staircase, cut into the rock. Listed as a historic monument in 1908, the site receives about 100,000 visitors a year. It is one of the so-called Cathar castles, although its history is mainly linked to the kingdom's frontier.
