The Cathar legend - Chateaux de Lastours

Around 20 minutes’ drive north of Carcassonne, there's a story of resistance and intrigue and a view to die for

This group of 4 towers clings to a narrow ridge which rises above the Orbeil and Grésilhou rivers. They were first built in the 11th Century to control access to the mines of the Black Mountain. The lords of Cabaret did very nicely from the traffic in iron, lead and gold.

Then came the Cathars...

Chateaux de Lastours Cabaret and Tour Régine Photo: Chateaux de Lastours - The towers Cabaret and Tour Régine

Starting in the 11th Century, the Cathars believed that Man’s purpose on Earth was to transcend matter, become purely spiritual and repudiate all forms of power. As medieval hippies, Rome’s wealthy and powerful Church represented everything that they rejected.

For these purists, the Catholic Church was corrupt and materialistic. It was time to start again. In its turn, the Church saw the Cathars as dangerous heretics and didn’t want their ideas to spread dissent across Europe.

In 1198 a new pope, Innocent III, decided to take a firm stand. After a few failed attempts to negotiate he launched the Albigensian Crusade to hunt down and eliminate the rebels.

At the head of this army would be Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and not known for his subtlety. He opened negotiations by laying siege to the town of Béziers. Around 20,000 would be massacred there.

The papal terminator then turned his attention to other Cathar refuges, first Carcassonne and then in 1209, Lastours...

Chateaux de Lastours Tour Régine and Surdespine Photo: Chateaux de Lastours - The towers Tour Régine and Surdespine

Simon wasn’t too hot on psychological warfare. He started by gouging the eyes from some prisoners and removing their ears, lips and noses as an example of what was to come.

Oddly, being nasty to prisoners makes people try hard not to become one of them. The defenders didn’t share his enthusiasm for having eye gouging and stepped up their resistance. Launching simultaneous attacks against three castles protected by sheer rock-faces, he was bound to fail.

These tours resisted the papal onslaught for two decades until they capitulated in 1229. They were razed to the ground but others would later rebuild them more impregnable than before.

The village of Lastours lies next to the river below. There’s a visitor centre which gives access to the castles and a second one across the valley which has a viewpoint over the whole monument. At 5€ a single ticket gives access to both sites.

Lastours boasts two restaurants, a café and an artisan bakery. We've included links to appropriate visitor information below and a selection of local Pure France rental homes

The Cathar legend - Chateaux de Lastours

Around 20 minutes’ drive north of Carcassonne, there's a story of resistance and intrigue and a view to die for

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