Fortresses on pinnacles, a fortified city and stone villages: this circuit follows from west to east the great places of Cathar Country, from the Ariège to the Corbières.
The map shows the numbered stops in visiting order, with one colour per day. The line follows the roads where available; otherwise it joins the stops as the crow flies. Distances and times are approximate (by car, without traffic).
The castle of Foix, then Montségur, the last Cathar stronghold to fall, in 1244.
Driving for the day: about 32.5 km, or 38 min behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
The castle of the counts of Foix, with its high walls and three towers, stands at the confluence of the Arget and the Ariège on an imposing rocky peak that overlooks the medieval town of Foix and offers a fine panoramic view of the Pyrenean landscape.
View full page →↓ 32.5 km · about 38 min by car to the next stop
Before setting off to assault the "Pog", the path passes close to the stele erected in 1960 "to the martyrs of pure Christian love".
View full page →The city of Carcassonne, the castles of Lastours, then the village of Minerve.
Driving for the day: about 63.6 km, or 1 h 34 behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
A fortified medieval town, with the history of the crusade against the Albigensians, the still-inhabited Cité de Carcassonne lies on the right bank of the Aude.
View full page →↓ 19.7 km · about 27 min by car to the next stop
A lock on the Cabardès since the early Middle Ages, the Lastours site is an exceptional ensemble with its four castles built at 300 metres' altitude, on top of a rocky spur.
View full page →↓ 43.8 km · about 1 h 07 by car to the next stop
At the exit of the gorges of La Cesse and the Briant, where the waters of the two rivers meet, Minerve appears at the end of a limestone plateau bordered by steep cliffs in a fantastic mineral and tormented landscape.
View full page →Lagrasse, then the castles of Aguilar, Peyrepertuse and Quéribus, in the Corbières.
Driving for the day: about 76.2 km, or 1 h 53 behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
The abbey of Lagrasse was founded in the eighth century in the Orbieu valley and, located on the Spanish marches of the Carolingian kingdom, played a particularly important role.
View full page →↓ 40.3 km · about 56 min by car to the next stop
The ruins of Aguilar castle crown a rocky peak. The oldest part is the polygonal upper enclosure, pointed on the attack side (twelfth century).
View full page →↓ 24.8 km · about 36 min by car to the next stop
"It is to be known that in the Marches, on this side of the Aragon frontier, is the City of Carcassonne, which is the mother and has five sons, namely Puilaurens, Aguilar, Quéribus, Termes and Peyrepertuse".
View full page →↓ 11.1 km · about 22 min by car to the next stop
It is in the commune of Cucugnan, a Corbières village immortalised by Alphonse Daudet in the sermon of his famous priest, that Quéribus castle stands.
View full page →The castle of Puilaurens, at the gates of the Fenouillèdes.
On the departmental boundary of the Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales, Puilaurens long remained the southernmost fortress of the kingdom of France.
View full page →Sites are numbered in the recommended order. Hilltop castles involve walking and good shoes. Avoid the hottest summer days for the climbs.