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.

The guide offers 30 walks based on the once strategically important castles that dominate the foothills of the Pyrenees. Each walk has as its focal point a castle or other location associated with Cathar history (mostly the 13th century). Summaries of the historical connections of each location with the Cathar period are given, and together these relate the story of the downfall of the Cathar Church, from the massacre in Bèziers in 1209 to the siege at Montsègur in 1244, which ended with the burning alive of over 200 believers who refused to renounce their Cathar faith.