Peyrepertuse

Château de Peyrepertuse
Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse, Aude, France
Peyrepertuse Castle
Château de Peyrepertuse
Coordinates	42°52′14″N 2°33′26″E / 42.87056°N 2.55722°E / 42.87056; 2.55722Coordinates: 42°52′14″N 2°33′26″E / 42.87056°N 2.55722°E / 42.87056; 2.55722
Type	Castle
Site information
Condition	In ruins
Site history
Built	13th century

Peyrepertuse is a ruined fortress and one of the so-called Cathar castles located high in the French Pyrénées in the commune of Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse, in the Aude département, and has been associated with the Counts of Narbonne and Barcelona. It was the former seigneury of the Peyrepertusès (in Occitan : Pèirapertusés) which means "pierced stone."

It is located on a limestone ridge at about an altitude of 800 m, on top of a hill which separates Duilhac from the town of Rouffiac-des-Corbières, towering over scrubland and vineyards. A strategic position which enables one at the same time to see far into the valleys that circle it, to control the mountain passes, or to send communication signals to the château de Quéribus a little further south.

The view of the castle from Duilhac (to the south) is impressive thanks to the 30 to 40 meter cliff on which the Castle is perched. The main entrance is located on the north side, but in the time of the Cathars, a secret passage through a narrow path behind a rocky overhang allowed entrance by means of a detachable ladder. Today, the secret passage's postern is closed off, but the path is still there.

The castle is one of the "Five Sons of Carcassonne" along with the castles Quéribus, Puilaurens, Termes, and Aguilar, all situated atop 'unassailable' rocky peaks. It is called 'Celestial Carcassonne' because it is the biggest of the five castles and it is as vast as Carcassonne.

The site was occupied during Roman times from the beginning of the 1st century B.C., as recent archaeological excavations have shown. The first historical references to the castle appeared in 806. It was then Catalan and was called Perapertusès. It belonged to the Count of Besalú, a small city situated in Catalonia between Figueres and Olot according to a text from 1020.