Walks in the Cathar Region - Cathar Castles of south-west France

This guidebook has over 30 walking routes around the Cathar castles of south-west France. The Cathar castles are the visible remains of the long religious rebellions from 1000-1250. Routes from 16 centres, including Béziers, Minerve, Lastours, Foix, Roquefixade, Lordat, Montailloe, Puivert, Montségur, Usson, Puilaurens, Quéribus, Peyrepertuse, Villerouge-Ternenes, Rennes and the Pech de Bugarach.

Walking in the Cathar Region

Cathar Castles of south-west France

Author

Alan Mattingly

Cover

Paperback - Laminated

Edition

First

ISBN_13

9781852844233

Availability

Published

Price

£12.00

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Front Cover (1)
Location Map (1)
Overview Maps (2)
Sample Routes (1)
Sample Photos (4)

Seasons

Possible year round, but the winter wind (tramontane) is blustery. Height of summer can be very hot lower down.

Centres

Béziers, Narbonne, Perpignan, Carcassonne, Foix, Quillan, Ax les Thermes and many small towns associated with the Cathar Castles.

Difficulty

From half- to full-day walks. Most are straightforward, but includes some longer and tougher routes and even a scramble.

Must See

It's all about the castles really, with Béziers, Minerve, Foix, Montségur, Roquefixade, Peyrepertruse, Puilaurens and many others.

‘Former Ramblers Director Alan Mattingley retired to southern France several years back, but this little book demonstrates he is still putting his walking expertise to good use. It explores the beautiful and evocative eastern corner of the Pyrenees associated with the Cathars, a mystical and egalitarian Christian sect, who were ruthlessly suppressed as heretics by the Roman Catholic church in the 13th century. The looming castles where the Cathars hid from their persecutors, some of them seeming to grow from the rock of their hilltop perches, provide the bases for a varied range of day walks using the extensive waymarked footpath network in the area as well as parts of the long distance Sentier Cathare.
It’s an evocatively written guide, with much on history and nature as well as practical walking information and great colour photos of striking landscapes.’