The castle ruins bristling atop hills are reminders of the religious and geopolitical strife that once tore at southern France. The Château de Puilaurens is one of the “Five Sons of Carcassonne,” built to defend France from Spain when the border was farther north of today’s line.The first mentions of the château date to 985, when the site held the abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa. Around 1241, it became a harbor for Cathars–Carcassonne had already surrendered in 1209 in the crusade against the Cathars by Pope Innocent III. Catharism was a dismal religion that espoused that everything on earth was evil and who were ascetic to the extreme–quite the juxtaposition with the corruption in the Catholic church.
Eventually, though Puilaurens surrendered, though nobody knows exactly when, possibly around 1255. The fortress then was fortified by King Louis IX, aka Saint-Louis, to stand up to the Kingdom of Aragon (Spain wasn’t united until the 1700s). By 1659, though, the Treaty of the Pyrénées made it obsolete by moving the border south, into the Pyrénées. During the Revolution, it was abandoned completely.
It’s easy to see why. It’s in the middle of nowhere!

Which is charming in its own way.
Puilaurens makes for a nice day trip from Carcassonne, a chance to mix nature and history and to get the very different feel of the mountains.



It’s not for the weak of heart, or of legs. The path is rugged, and the last bit is the steepest, the better for archers picking off invaders. Not being a bird nor having a drone, I don’t have the bird’s-eye view, but you can see some here and others here.

One of the towers is called the White Lady tower, after Blanche de Bourbon, the granddaughter of Philip IV (aka the Fair or Handsome, but also known as the Iron King), who stayed in Puilaurens, but it’s hard to say when. Maybe on her way to be married, at age 14, to Peter the Cruel, king of Castile, who abandoned her three days after their wedding and had her locked up. So much for the alliance with France, which was the reason he married her at all. Blanche died eight years later, supposedly on orders of her husband, either by being poisoned or shot by a crossbow (but she might have gotten the plague). She supposedly haunts the grounds of Puilaurens as a white, misty apparition. However, it is often misty at Puilaurens. It’s at an altitude of more than 700 meters (2300 feet).
I don’t have good photos here of the castle’s modern conveniences–latrines and a speaking tube cut into the stone that allowed people to communicate between different floors of a tower.
If you like history, check out the post on the Châteaux de Lastours as well.
Wow, you’ve got vultures! Impressive, as is the scenery.
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Did you see that forest? I am sure there are many birds and prey in there.
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My favourite chateau in the Languedoc. Beautiful when viewed from the road at night.
We have the same vultures living in the hills behind our roof terrace.
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I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. It was really beautiful, though–the stones, the forest setting, the quiet.
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Really fascinating. Thanks for the tour.
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It’s well worth a visit!
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LOVE HISTORY……………
Now explain this FACE that shows up when you respond!!!!!!!!
A woodMAN???
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You mean “my” face? It’s from a mirror in our vacation apartment rental.
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YES, YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good to know the HISTORY BEHIND IT!!!!!!!!!!!
XX
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Thank you – this Chateau is now on my bucket list. Beautiful!!!!
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There are several others not far–Puivert, Monségur, Quéribus, Peyrepertuse. They are all easy to get to from Carcassonne.
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If that’s on the road that goes over to Perpignan, I’ve been on it, although not climbed as you have. Spectacular scenery. And the idea of building there without any mod cons/tools is simply mind-boggling.
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Yes, Puilaurens, Puivert, Quéribus and Peyrepertuse are all on the D117.
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For me the Cathar legacy and their persecution is the most compelling thing about your area. I simply can’t get my head around religious in-fighting. They may have been a bit out-there (well, were let’s face it) but to set about their genocide as the Catholics did when they all supposedly worshipped the same God seems mindless and we see the same going on all these centuries later. Bonkers. Your account of the Château’s history is thorough and fascinating. I now wonder what really became of Blanche ….
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The level of cruelty was really incredible. Not a lot of live and let live.
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I find it the saddest irony that religion, rather than bringing out the best, so often brings out the bigotry and intolerance of others.
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We will have to stop next year. It would be very spooky with the mist rolling through.
Ali
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Spooky but beautiful.
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Still imposing as a ruin. What a beautiful landscape.
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They were built to last, that’s for sure.
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