- Type
- Ruin
- Heritage
- part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (an old town or a valley, for example)
- Coordinates
- 42.8708°, 2.5554°
History
Excavations have shown that the ridge was occupied as early as the 1st century BC, and a castle is first recorded in the early 11th century, when the area belonged to the Catalan counts of Besalú. In 1111 it passed to the counts of Barcelona and later to the viscounts of Narbonne. During the Albigensian Crusade its lord, Guillaume de Peyrepertuse, was excommunicated in 1224, but once resistance had collapsed he submitted and handed the castle to King Louis IX. The crown enlarged the fortress, building the Sant Jordi keep on the highest point of the ridge in 1250–1251, reached by the rock-cut Staircase of St Louis. After the Treaty of Corbeil in 1258 it guarded the border with Aragon, but it lost its role after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659; abandoned during the Revolution, it was sold as national property in 1820. In 2026 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List with the other royal fortresses of Languedoc.
What to see
The ruins are open all year except for a few holidays. From the car park below the cliff a path leads in about a quarter of an hour to the gate on the north side, and a longer footpath starts in the village of Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse. Visitors explore the lower castle with its keep and fortified church of St Mary, then climb the Staircase of St Louis to the Sant Jordi keep, with views over the Corbières valleys and towards Quéribus. Access may be closed in storms and high winds, and the steps are slippery even in fine weather.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q944597
Popularity: articles about this site in 15 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).