Château de Montségur

Château de Montségur
Montségur, France
The Fortress of Montségur
Château de Montségur
Coordinates	42°52′32″N 1°49′57″E / 42.87556°N 1.83250°E / 42.87556; 1.83250Coordinates: 42°52′32″N 1°49′57″E / 42.87556°N 1.83250°E / 42.87556; 1.83250
Site information
Condition	In ruins
Site history
Built	13th century

The Château de Montségur is a former fortress near Montségur, a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Its ruins are the site of a razed stronghold of the Cathars. The present fortress on the site, though described as one of the "Cathar castles," is actually of a later period. It has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862.

The ruins of Montségur are perched at a precarious 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) altitude in the south of France near the Pyrenees. Located in the heart of France's Languedoc-Midi-Pyrénées regions, 80 km (50 mi) southwest of Carcassonne, Montségur dominates a rock formation known as a pog — a term derived from the Languedocien dialect of Occitan — , meaning "peak, hill, mountain."

The earliest signs of human settlement in the area date back to the stone age, around 80,000 years ago. Evidence of Roman occupation such as Roman currency and tools have also been found in and around the site. Its name comes from Latin mons securus, which evolved into mont ségur in Occitan, which means "safe hill". In the Middle Ages the Montsegur region was ruled by the Counts of Toulouse, the Viscounts of Carcassonne and finally the Counts of Foix. Little is known about the fortification until the time of the Albigensian Crusade.