Montségur is situated in the southwest of France, close to the Pyrennees and about 80 km southwest of Carcassonne. When visiting Julie & Cedric early March in Toulouse we were happy that they have decided to play tour guides for us, as I've already explored Toulouse in 2008 with my mom. So the Sa morning we left, direction Pyrennees. Unfortunately we couldn't stop in Foix as they were in a hurry to get to Montségur sooner rather than later (it was still winter with short days and snow on the mountains). You can watch next year's Tour de France as they will go through Foix. What a beautiful area. Not the buildings as many resemble horrible grey appartments that were typically build after WWII. But the mountains, the rivers.
Montségur was at one stage the main seat of the Cathar religion. Cathar derives from the Greek; meaning pure - although the Catholic church called them heretics. The religion originated in the second half of the 12th century and quickly gained field in not only France, but also in Europe (incl some royalties). There are many mysteries and myths surrounding the Cathars. One thing we know for sure is that they were against the Catholic church, hence the Pope eventually commanded that they be wiped out. A dvd that we have watched after that weekend (but which I have already purchased in 2008 in Carcassonne to improve my French!) makes the statement that the Pope paid the Burgundy group to go and fight against the Cathar. Anyway, I do not think we will ever know the truth. There are stories that they had treasures which they have sneaked out before the château was destroyed, that they kept the Holy Grail. Who will know?
What I can say is that it was built on a very impressive site, on a mountain at an altitude of 1207 m! The Cathars built the château on the ruins of another one. However, after a siege of 9 months, the castle was finally surrounded and destroyed in March 1244. About 220 Cathars were burned to death after refusing to renounce their faith. The castle was rebuilt by royal forces over the following three centuries and archeologists refer to the current ruins as Montségur III. It is typical of a French defensive structure of that era. Many people still believe the ruins are that of the Cathars' château.
Above: arriving in the parking area with the impressive view of the château on the top of the mountain
Below: the surrounding mountains, while following the footpath to the château
Above: this was the easy part, going further it became very steep and with icy snow, making it extremely slippery. Even though we had our tekkies on, we had to step carefully and at some stages JL had to push and pull me that I could progress on the difficult areas!
Below: a small monument for the Cathars
Above: the village far below
Above: by the time we got to the château we were so hot of the climb, we were peeling off the layers of clothes
Surely not an easy site to built on! But excellent for defense yes!
Above and below: down in the village, we were starving for lunch as it was already after lunchtime and the steep climb burnt a lot of energy!
But like the wild coast last week, this is a ghost village during winter!
Above & below: the ruins are visible from the village, incredible to think people went up there to worship!
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