Château d'Arques

P3

The Arques Castle

The castle of Arques (French Château d' Arques, Occitan Castèl d' Arcas ) is the ruins of a medieval castle in what is now the Aude department of the French region of Languedoc -Roussillon. The castle is indeed in the Cathar not heard due to its late construction of the Cathar Castles. It is classified as a monument historique since 16 August 1887.

Location

The small community of Arques is situated about 44 km ( driving distance ) south of Carcassonne. The village is located about 11 kilometers west Couiza. City and castle of Termes lie about 30 kilometers north-east. The castle is located about 400 meters west of the present village of Arques.

History

In the 11th century Arques belonged to the property of the Abbey of Sainte -Marie de Lagrasse Not long after, one of the estates of the Seigneurs de Termes, which in turn were themselves subjects of the viscounts of Carcassonne. First documented in 1154 is mentioned a fortified place by a castle at that time but have not yet mentioned.

In the year 1211 or 1217, Simon de Montfort turned after the conquest of the castle Termes towards Arques (Villa de Arquis ) and put the place at that time probably had no castle, but only a fortified village ( castrum ) was on fire. 1231 was a part of the Razès region, including Arques, in possession of his former comrades-in: Pierre de Voisins. His son, Gilles de Voisins began in 1284 with the building of the present castle, which was situated on a Hirtenweg in the direction of the higher mountain regions of the Corbières. In 1316 the work was completed.

In 1518 married Françoise de Voisins, the last heir of the family estate, Jean de Joyeuse and moved to its possession by Couiza. The Arques Castle was abandoned and in 1575 attacked by the Huguenots and partially destroyed.

Architecture

The castle consists of an approximately square outer wall square of about 50 meters each side. In the corner buildings, the living quarters of the servants, a chapel and probably the stables were located.

The mighty square donjon stands in the middle of the complex and has four provided with narrow loopholes round towers at the corners. It has a side length of about twelve meters and a height of over 25 meters. The four each consisting only of a large room floors of the defensive and residential tower were connected by a narrow and therefore difficult Administered spiral staircase in the front right corner tower. In one of the corner towers, the wooden shelves have been removed so you have a clear view from the bottom to the very top. In the other two small benches on each floor. The top floor was used in the event of an attack as a last retreat. The lower two floors have high ribbed vault, the two upper floors close contrast with beamed ceilings from. The two middle rooms were heated by open fireplaces wall in winter.

Knapping is - apart from the top floor - exceptionally accurate. Such a construction was hitherto unknown in the south of France and was probably inspired by models in the Île- de -France or Normandy. The entire area of viscounty Carcassonne from 1224 belonged to the French royal domain, and northern French influences were increasingly effective both in sacred and in profane architecture.