Château de Roquefixade

Coordinates: 42°56′20″N 1°45′12″E / 42.93889°N 1.75333°E / 42.93889; 1.75333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The ruined wall of Château de Roquefixade

The Château de Roquefixade is a ruined castle built on a cliff overlooking the village of Roquefixade, situated 8 km (5 miles) west of Lavelanet French département of Ariège.[1]

There are records of a castle on the site going back to 1180, though the present ruins are more modern. While marketed in the tourist industry as one of the so-called Cathar castles, the ruins are later than this. Despite this, the site did provide a place of refuge for the Cathars at the time of the Albigensian Crusade.

A natural cleft in the cliff face has been filled in by an arch supported by ramparts. This cleft is the origin of the name of the village, and later the castle: roca fisada (fissured rock) in Catalan. The remains of the castle walls cling to the rock, originally circling an impressive keep built at the highest point of the site.[2]

At the end of the 13th century, Roquefixade became a stronghold at the end of a line of royal fortresses built along the Corbières hills, to keep watch on the territory of the

Henri II, Duke of Montmorency who had risen against Richelieu. Louis took the opportunity to order the destruction (slighting) of Roquefixade,[3] it now serving no purpose and being costly to maintain.[2]

Château de Roquefixade has been listed since 1995 as a

French Ministry of Culture.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Base Mérimée: Château cathare, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  2. ^
    ISBN 2-907899-44-9
    .
  3. ISSN 2494-2782
    .

External links

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42°56′20″N 1°45′12″E / 42.93889°N 1.75333°E / 42.93889; 1.75333

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