Châteaux Cathares: Peyrepertuse, Quéribus and Puilaurens

The Cathar châteaux of Languedoc are one of the most impressive – and at the same time least well-known – heritage sites in the whole of France. Unlike the châteaux of the Loire Valley (elegant, residential and accessible), the Cathar castles are brutal military fortresses, perched on the most inaccessible crags of the Eastern Pyrenees, built specifically to withstand prolonged sieges and which, in many cases, fulfilled that purpose to the very end during the Albigensian Crusade of the 13th century. Their dizzying location — atop vertical cliffs hundreds of metres high — makes them some of the most photogenic monuments in the whole of Europe.

Peyrepertuse is probably the most spectacular of them all. Known as the ‘Cathar Versailles’ due to its extraordinary size (over 300 metres long, perched on a limestone ridge at an altitude of 800 metres), it was the largest fortress on the entire Franco-Aragonese border during the Middle Ages. Its walls stretch along the ridge like a stone ship floating above the void, and the climb on foot to the keep (about 20 minutes up steep stairs from the car park) is a dizzying and utterly unforgettable experience. The views from the top take in the whole of the Fenouillèdes as far as the Canigó to the south and the Corbières to the north.

Quéribus has an even more dramatic history: it was literally the last Cathar stronghold to fall. When all the other castles had been taken by the Crusaders, a small group of Cathars held out here until 1255, eleven years after the fall of Montségur. Its circular tower, perched on an isolated 728-metre peak with sheer drops on all four sides, seems to defy the laws of gravity and history. Inside the tower is a Gothic hall with a central column from which ribs radiate like a stone flower – probably the most elegant example of military architecture in the whole of southern France.

Puilaurens, the third in the trilogy, is perhaps the least visited but the most atmospheric. Tucked away amongst dense woodland at an altitude of 697 metres, its silhouette only comes into view at the end of a winding road that climbs up from the village of Lapradelle. Its four circular towers, connected by walls that zigzag along the contour of the cliff, create the silhouette of a fairytale castle that looks as though it has been plucked from a medieval illustration. The walk up from the car park (about 15 minutes) takes you through a forest of beech and oak trees, adding to the mystery of the place.

Motorcycling tips: the roads linking the three castles (D117, D14, D19, D46) are narrow, technical and completely free of traffic. The whole area has a very low population density and the sense of isolation is surprising for France. Season: March–November. Fill up with petrol in Quillan or Perpignan. For a bite to eat, in Cucugnan (a village between Quéribus and Peyrepertuse), the Auberge du Vigneron serves Catalan-Occitan cuisine with local Fitou wines. And a word of advice: take water and sun cream with you. The climbs up to the castles are short but steep, with no shade, and it gets very hot in summer.