Today we scaled the great heights of Montsegur, a Cathar castle from the 13th century. It had been snowing in the last couple of days and the climb up and down was steep and very slippery with snow and ice everywhere and no guard rails or anything to stop you sliding off the edges of the cliffs. So I did my usual panic mode with the kids because I’m terrified that they will fall and hurt themselves. They don’t seem to have a lot of protection or safety barriers for people at a lot of these places.
The town of Montsegur (30km east of Foix) is 1200 m above sea level. The castle was used as a refuge for the lords who had been dispossessed of their lands by the Crusaders. About 600 people lived on the site. Along the path leading to the castle there is a monument commemorating the 220 Cathars burned at the stake for refusing to renounce their Cathar faith.
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