Puilaurens Castle, Puilaurens-Lapradelle - Aude - France

Puilaurens Castle,  Puilaurens-Lapradelle - Aude - France

Cite du pay Cathare

Located approximately 500 metre above the town of Puilaurens is located one of the Cathare castles.
As you head up the road through a few bends there is a sharp right turn, lookout for the sign. Then up an winding roard and then a bend which has signpost saying parking. (Good photo point to look up at the castle). Carry on up to the main visitor car park. There are toilets  (nb: CA These are not hole in the ground) on the right and the visitor entrance and shop on your left.
The current entry fee is 4.00 euros per adult (June 2011)
Word of caution this is steep walk up a wooded path with only dirt and the root of the trees that line the path at the bottom, followed by uneven rock and gravel until you get the to stepped zig-zag trenches. The guide available in the language of your choice says that it takes 15-20 minutes to the main gate at the top. It took me 25 but did have a few stops on the way up. There are also a number on name tags indicating the various types of plants and trees.
Before you enter the main arched entrance take a look around at over 2072 acres of what was royal, mainly fir-tree forest. Now state owned there are other conifers such as beech, cedar and pine trees.

History

The village of Puilaurens-Lapradelle is actually made up of hamlet of Lavagnac and Puilaurens which gives it an area of some 7410 acres.
Archaeological human existence has been found in the cave under the river Boulzane dating back some 12000 years ago.
"Mont Ardu" the name of the mountain where the castle was built, appeared the first time in 958 in a charter which Lothraire cenceded to the abbey of Saint Michel de Cuxa the provostship of Puilaurens. This consists of the valley of Boulzane or Saint Croix.

The first of the lords of Puilaurens that we can identify with any certainty, Pierre Catala, appears as a witness in on Guillaume de Peyrepertuse in 1217. In 1229, Guillaume de Peyrepertuse commanded Puilaurens it withstood attack by Simon de Montfort and his successors until the end of the crusades. After 1243, its owner was Roger Catala, Pierre's son, but it was defended, like Quéribus, by Chabert de Barbaira, a Cathar military commander who was the last person to defend the Occitan cause.

The Cathars' presence in Puilaurens seems to be related to the role of refuge run by the fortress. In 1241, the Cathar deacon for Fenouilldès, Pierre Paraire stayed there and from 1245 - 1246 several Cathars lodged here

Is not known exactly when the castle came under royal control, but the annexation seems consumated around 1250. In a letter of August 1255, Saint Louis ordered the seneschal of Carcassonne to fortify the castle. The Treaty of Corbeil 1258 defines it as one of the main fortresses defending the border against Aragon.

In 1259 Puilaurens is occupied by a garrison commanded by Odon de Monteuil with a chaplain and 25 sergeants at arms. The castle was restored  around 1263, and again  under  Phillipe-le-Hardi (Philip the Bold) 1270 - 1285.

In its current state, the fortress essentially dates back to the start of the royal period in Languedoc and is not earlier than the thirteenth century.

Until the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), Puilaurens had to face repeated incursions from Spain. After the Treaty of the Pyrenees, Puilaurens was decommissioned and was no longer occupied other than by a small garrison of "mort-paid" (veterans).

If you like castles or interested in Cathar history, don't mind a bit of walk; then worth a trip for the view and historical value.

Additional information.
List of castles in France

Location

WGS84 42° 48′ 13.5″ N, 2° 17′ 58″ E
      42.80375, 2.299444

UTM 31T 442717 4739260