Renting a car in Toulouse, we drove toward Carcassonne. On the way, we stopped at an amazing site called Lastours. Almost 1000 years ago, Lastours was a fortified village surrounded by three castles. The village welcomed the Cathars, a heretical group of Christians that grew in this part of France between the 11th and 13th centuries. Unfortunately (for them), the Cathars did not adhere to the Christianity of Rome and the Pope. Therefore the Pope, with the assistance of the King of France who was attempting to consolidate his power, waged a genocidal war against the Cathars, the last of whom was burned in 1321.
As part of this war, the village and castles at Lastours were destroyed, and the French king built a new stronghold there. The ruins we visited are actually of the four French castles built after the Cathars defeat in around 1229.
As you can see, it was a beautiful day for hiking. Climbing up to and around these ruins made us wonder how people could have lived up there 800 to 1000 years ago, but the defensive benefit of the position is obvious.
Of course, given how good the defensive position was, the question arises: how was the original position conquered? It turns out that when all of your allies have capitulated, it does not matter how good your position is, and the residents of the Chateaux of Lastours gave up without a fight.
After our time in Lastours, we made our way to Carcassonne, and checked into our hotel. From our room, we had an amazing view of the medieval city on the hill above the modern city.
The medieval city, while impressive, has the same problem as many European tourist sites: too many tourists leading to stores catering to those tourists, taking away from the atmosphere of the city. We visited the medieval city the evening we arrived, and the next morning. Walking the walls of the city and learning about its impressive defenses was interesting, but we were not that impressed with what was inside the walls, although we found decent places for both dinner and breakfast (pastry).
It was fun to compare the intact castle at Carcassonne and the ruins at Lastours. More to come from southern France soon.
Adieu,
No comments:
Post a Comment