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

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Information Sheet
Introduction
Contents
Sample Route
Availability
Reprinted
Cover
Paperback - Laminated
Published
1 Jun 2011
Edition
First
ISBN
9781852844233
Expand
ISBN (10)
185284423X
Size
17.2 x 11.6 x 1.4cm
Weight
240g
Pages
208
No. Maps
22
No. Photos
66
Originally Published
23 Jun 2005

Walking in the Cathar Region

Cathar Castles of south-west France by Alan Mattingly

Guide to over 30 walking routes around the Cathar castles of south-west France, reminders of religious turmoil from 1000 to 1250. Routes from 16 centres, including Béziers, Minerve, Lastours, Foix, Roquefixade, Lordat, Montailloe, Puivert, Montségur, Usson, Puilaurens, and Rennes. More...

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Seasons

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

Centres

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

Difficulty

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

Must See

It's all about the castles really, with Béziers, Minerve, Foix, Montségur, Roquefixade, Read More... 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.

 
 
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