History and Info:
There
are signs of human settlement in the city that date back to 80,000 years
ago. There is also evidence of Roman
occupation, such as tools and currency.
In 1243-1244, the Cathars of the city were killed by 10,000 troops at
the end of the Albigensian Crusade. In
March of 1244, the Cathars surrendered and there were nearly 220 burned in a
massive fire at the foot of Pog Mountain.
The population of the town is about 108.
The
town of Montségur is fairly small. It
has few streets, a few cafés, and a museum, but somehow the town draws people
back to it. The town is most famous for
the Château de Montségur, a fortress built on the ruins of the last Cathar
stronghold. Most tourists and Europeans
take the challenge of climbing Pog Mountain to get the ultimate reward of the
Castle ruins and seeing all of Montsegur.
More reading on the castle can be found here:
My take...
Montségur is quite an interesting place. Our first exposure to the town was when we were climbing up Pog Mountain to get to the castle remains. That hike was quite interesting. For me it was one of the hardest physical things that we've done this entire trip. Even more so than the walk to the Iron Cross! There was a steep incline for a lot of the hike and we all were taking breaks here and there to catch our breath. Once we got up to the castle, I understood how rewarding it was for the climb. The scenery was gorgeous, and you can see for miles in every direction from outside the castle walls! One thing that I thought was remarkable was the people that we met up there. On our hike up we met a group of people from San Diego that were hiking and biking around the castles of France. They were at least in their late 40s or early 50s. One of our group members even met up with a blast from her past, one of her high school teachers from Ames, IA. The most remarkable person was this fragile French woman. We were about to leave the castle for the hike down, and she had just finished her hike up. She didn't speak any English, but she let us know that she was 73 years old. 73!!! She seemed overjoyed that she was able to make the climb up and that she was able to see the sight up there.
The picture to the left is part of the trail that we had to hike up to get to the castle. The picture on the right is the view once you finish the hike. Quite a reward, ay?
After conquering the mountain, we headed down to the town to go to the museum. It was really interesting to see all the artifacts that were found while they were excavating the castle. There was a video that explained what all the ruins were also, even though it was in French and we didn't really understand it. A really cool part of being in the town was when we were returning to our cars. We met a lady that was doing yard work and was from California. She and her boyfriend are script writers for movies, and her boyfriend had done a documentary on Montségur. She said that he had been coming back to the town for 20 years, and they as a couple had gone there for two years before they decided to move there four years ago. She said that she found the town to be peaceful and a great place to focus on her work. Like I said above in the description, the place really does draw people back to it.
See you in the States!
~Emily K.
The photo on the left is the view inside of the ruins of the castle. It was quite different from the castle in Castrojeriz. The photo on the right is Carley having her Titanic moment at a ledge behind the castle.
Both of these pictures are the views from the castle. Such a stunning view in person.
These are all pictures of the castle. The middle one shows the height that we had to climb!
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