FRANCE ~ Château de Montaillou - Ariège ~

... Nice views of a ruined castle dominating the village from the hill overlooking the upper Hers Valley... watches over the landscape that has hardly changed for centuries... all that remains of this rectangular castle are three walls of a ruined keep and evidence of other walls and earthworks... Montaillou was one of the last Cathar strongholds to fall... Ariège is certainly the destination that still contains the most secrets, mystical places, villages, and especially castles linked to Catharism... the Cathar castles, bastions of rebellion, of resistance to the Catholic Church, are exceptional places to explore here... Thanks a lot Josep&Assumpta! (✿◠‿◠)

This small village, located on the border of Ariège and Aude at an altitude of 1,300 meters, has only about twenty inhabitants in winter. Montaillou has in fact remained famous thanks to ancient writings which bear witness to Cathar practices in the region in the 13th century. 

The castle probably had three storeys and was built by the lords of Alion around the end of the 12th century, occupying a platform roughly 100m long by 30 to 40 m wide. The plan of the castle was simple: a wall linked to a tower followed the contours of the hill.

In the 12th century, a Christian religion different from Catholicism developed in the South of France: Catharism.This new belief, based on Christianity but highly criticized by Catholicism, quickly spread throughout Occitania a région of southern France. 

 

Stamp:

Personalities - Agnes Varda, 1928-2019 

(Issued 02-04-2024)