Les Quatre Châteaux de Lastours

I will never tire of seeing the amazing castles - or what is left of them - scattered around the south of France. There are countless remnants that once stood tall and strong, built for defence often at the top of a mountain, with a small village at the foot.

I have enjoyed reading stories about the history of this area, which saw so many wars and battles before our country was even 'discovered'. One set of castles in particular attracted my attention.

Sitting high above the village of Lastours, there are four castles lined along the mountain top. Aptly named 'Les Quatre Châteaux de Lastours', meaning 'the four castles of Lastours', the remnants of these once-strong fortresses, built around the 14th century, still stand strong.

Always keen to check out a medieval castle, Marty and I decided to take the short 45 minute drive north-east to Lastours to check them out. 

Three of the four Castles of Lastours

We drove along the winding roads gradually getting higher, until we came to the village of Lastours. A beautiful little town, similar in appearance to others we had driven through, except for one thing: the village was built in a curve along the valley around the mountain range surrounding it, with a river flowing down from the mountain and through the middle of the town.

We took a moment to take in the village, with its ancient Roman ovens on the river bank in the middle of the village. Some of the houses were built into the surrounding rock mountain walls, others built on top of the walls.

A view of Lastours from above

Hiking up the mountain

From the town at the base of the mountain we could see the first of the castles. The round tower stood proudly on the edge of the mountain overlooking the valley. We began our ascent to this tower, and it wasn't long before I felt the climb in my legs. I wondered to myself how they would have built such an impressive structure so long ago, when I couldn't even imagine how they would do it today.

We stopped half way up at a small look out to take in the sights around us; we were surrounded by mountains in every direction, and the small village below grew even more interesting as we could see it from a height.

The modern steps that assisted our climb so far had ended and we were on our own on the narrow, pebbly path as we continued up toward the first of the castles, called Quertinheux. This structure had a circular tower surrounded by various walls, the one at the entrance built in a zigzag for defensive purposes.

The first castle, Quertinheux, up close

Quertinheux on its perch

This castle was amazingly built into the rock atop a separate part of the mountain that seemed to stand on its own. It wasn't until we were past the castle onto the second one that we could see how impressive the structure really was.

The second castle, called Surdespine, was larger than the first, with more walls still standing, even if they were only in part. The main difference however was that it's tower was square, not circular, and there were very few loop-holes in this tower.

The square tower of Surdespine

Marty on his way to the third castle, Tour Regine

The third tower had the most interesting element to it. Called Tour Regine, this castle was built to assert the king's supremacy when the other three were rebuilt following a siege. It had a round tower similar to the first castle, but this tower had a ceiling built of rock. It was curved, and really made an impact when entering the tiny room in the tower via a modernised staircase.

It was difficult to capture how impressive this room was in photos, but we spent some time just marvelling at the structure with a curved stone ceiling.

The last two castles

The curved ceiling of Tour Regine

The first three towers were all built for defensive purposes, with the fourth one being the principal castle, called Cabaret. The entrance to the castle had remnants of structured walls designed for defensive purposes, and inside was divided into separate areas, with the whole structure being a lot larger than the other castles.

The other three castles can be seen from Cabaret

The arched walls of Cabaret, with the ramparts above

The keep was polygonal in shape, and we could walk up a set of stairs to overlook the other three castles. We could see the structural remnants of a main room or building on the ground floor and another tower at the other end.

 

Marty scoping out the ramparts of Cabaret

The walls had an amazing arched detail to them, with the layers of rocks living proof of meticulous construction. What was left of the walls showed evidence of ramparts where soldiers would walk around to keep watch and use for defensive positions.

On the far side of the last castle, down the mountain into the valley, there were remnants of an ancient village that had once housed people alongside the river. This village has only been discovered in the last 20 years after research and ongoing archaeological digs, which have unearthed an almost intact village, including household items from the day. This suggests that the village was abandoned almost immediately during a siege, with the residents fleeing and leaving everything behind.

Further reading has told me of the area's colourful history, starting with evidence of life in the immediate area dating back to the 6th century. The three original castles were built closer to the village by the Cabaret family in the 11th century, but were destroyed, along with the village, by royal troops at the end of the crusade against Catharism in the 13th century, in retaliation for the role they played in supporting the Cathar movement in the area.

Remnants of the village at the bottom of the mountain

Rebuilt on top of the mountain and with a fourth tower added, the castles became a military and administrative centre for surrounding communities before being occupied by the Protestants in the 16th century, and finally abandoned after the French Revolution.

It is an amazing experience for us to be able to not only see, touch and walk through what is left of these ancient structures that once housed people and endured wars, but to learn about their history gives us a greater understanding and appreciation for the area that we have been lucky enough to live in.

Cite de Carcassonne

You know those moments when you are stopped in your tracks, completely awestruck and just speechless? They don't seem to happen very often these days, but on our first adventure in France, Marty and I had one of those moments...

We had only been in the country for five days when I decided that it was time to get out and explore. Marty had played his first game of footy for the Grizzlies on the Sunday (in 4 degree weather) and had commiserated the loss with the team over night. But I wasn't going to let that spoil a beautiful day in the south of France.

The town of Carcassonne is about a 20 minute drive east from Limoux, and we had briefly been through the town's centre when we went to arrange Marty's visa on our second day here. We had heard about how impressive the castle in Carcassonne was; so big and magical, and worth a visit. So, our first tourist adventure would be to the Cite de Carcassonne.

I should point out that Carcassonne is divided into the old medieval Cite de Carcassonne, and the lower city, built outside the fortified walls and across the river, with a population of around 50,000. We were unaware of the difference when we set out on this adventure.

We drove to the town in the morning, and from the moment we parked the car we had our eyes open for the castle. We stood outside some walls that seemed to run between housing buildings and the car park and main road. At the end of the carpark we saw a big rock wall structure, and we got excited. As we approached, we both questioned what this was, as it didn't look very big. Yet, just in case it was the castle, we continued around the wall to find out.

As we rounded a corner that seemed to bring us into what must have been part of a walled city, we saw stairs that entered this great wall. We went in, walked around, and quickly realised this was no castle. It was instead a prayer garden, with statues telling the story of Christ's crucifixion. It was old, but in considerably good shape, and a nice, quiet place; but not the castle we were looking for.

The Church that we came
across in our search.

We left the garden and started to wander down a street, looking for the next sign of a castle. We walked through streets with closed shops, and through the town's square, but there wasn't a lot of action (I had read that some shops close their doors on Mondays as their day off, and we have quickly learnt that nothing happens in France on a Monday!).

We saw another impressive rock structure; one that looked like a tower among housing buildings. When we saw it we thought it looked much more like what we would have expected. As we approached though, Marty was again questioning what it was, as it didn't have the elements that castles of the day would have had. As we stood in front of this great big building, we came to the conclusion that it was a Church. It too was closed, but very impressive to stand in front of.

So, our search continued. We weren't disillusioned though, as we were walking the small, empty streets of the old town of Carcassonne, taking in the sites of the buildings all crowded in. We wandered along in one direction, assuming that we had covered one side of the town, so it had to be on the other. We noticed some French tourists who had a map, and just as we were about to get out our translation book and attempt to talk to them, they asked someone passing by about the 'Chateau', and the local pointed in the direction we were headed. We were on the right track.

As we wandered along a street out into an opening, we looked up and there across the river was the grand Cite de Carcassonne. This was our moment of complete awe; a moment that words cannot describe, but the feeling will be with us forever. There was no mistake about it; that was the castle we had come to see. 

Cite de Carcassonne

We stopped for a few minutes, just trying to comprehend what we were seeing; castles like that only exist in movies or photos in our world, but here is one right before us. Research told us that there is 2,500 years of history around this castle; fortified with double walls all the way around, and surrounded by 52 towers, this was an impressive structure. 

As we walked up toward it, I asked my personal battle historian (Marty) questions about the walls, and why this was the way it was, and why that was built like that. I learnt about the loop-holes in the walls and towers that were designed for archers, and that the towers were built round so that attackers had no corners to hide behind. I was so excited and impressed to see these things firsthand and try to comprehend how advanced the building of the structure was for so long ago.

Marty was equally impressed with what he was seeing. This is one of the most remarkably maintained medieval fortified cities in the world, and we were walking through it. We wandered through the external walls, across a bridge and through the internal city walls. As far as we could see either way there were walls and towers. 

The narrow streets were filled with shops
and tourists

We followed the crowds of people along the cobblestone roads up the slight hill into the city. Old buildings lined the narrow cobblestone paths, and what would have once been houses were now shops with every possible souvenir you could imagine; while it was obviously catering to the tourist market now, it certainly brought the streets to life with action, colour and noise.

There was so much to see; the pubs, cafes, boulangeries, an inviting shop that sold chocolate by the slab! There were people standing at the doors to their shops inviting us inside and offering samples. 

The entrance to the Keep

We continued along the roads, taking in the sights and sounds and just appreciating where we were. We came to another impressive wall that protected the keep on the inside. Going through the gates we were met with a ticket line to visit the keep, which promised to be intact, albeit renovated and restored for tourism purposes. We decided not to visit the inside of the keep this time, instead we stood along the top of the dry moat marveling at bridge over the moat and the tall towers the stood either side of the entrance.

There was still more to see as we left the inner circle walls of the keep. We came across the city's Church, which was again impressive for its size and architecture. 

It really was a stunning building, with so much character and standing so tall among the surrounding buildings.

The Church inside the
Cite de Carcassonne

As we wandered back through the town, I couldn't help but think of what life must have been like back in the day when this was a thriving and secure city. It was an enormous construction perched atop a hill next to the river Aude; a seemingly perfect location. It has seen so many wars and battles, and was spared destruction to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At night the lights that surround the city cast the most amazing perspective on the walls and towers and really seem to bring the history to life.

For our first tourist adventure in France, we were beyond impressed and the bar had been set high. Fortunately for us, the Cite de Carcassonne is just one of the many historical sites to visit in the south of France, and we have eight more months to explore.

Our photos don't do justice to how impressive the Cite de Carcassonne is. Here are some images that will give you an idea of the size of the structure. And for those interested, the Cite de Carcassonne was featured in the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the Kevin Costner version), as the exterior to Nottingham Castle.