Minerve, Hérault

Minerve is a southern French village with 135 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Hérault in the Languedoc- Roussillon region. In addition to Montsegur, Quéribus, Puivert and peyrepertuse she was a stronghold of the Cathars.

Minerve is as one of the plus beaux villages de France, the most beautiful villages in France, classified.

Geography

The medieval town was built on a rock which extends between the rivers and Brian Cesse. He is exclusively connected by a small bridge and a rocky ridge with the surrounding plateau, the Causses. Minerve is now a well known beauty spot, surrounded by vineyards - the Minervois. The stunning scenery attracts many caver. The municipality is part of the Regional Natural Park of Haut Languedoc.

The village is situated approximately 280 meters above the sea. The name of the Roman establishment is derived from the goddess Minerva.

History

The Romanesque church of Saint -Etienne was consecrated in 456 and is known for its white marble altar. Near the church is the former home of the Cathar priests with a door of the Templar Order in the 13th century and the octagonal tower La Candela is the only trace of the castle and the fortifications.

Special mention is here the massacre of 140 inhabitants in the year 1210. Carcassonne The Count of Simon IV de Montfort was from Pope Innocent III. and the French King Philip II with the motto " Caedite eos, enim Dominus qui sunt eius novit " ( German: " Beat all dead, God knows His " ) contracted to provide all Cathars in Occitania in the Albigensian Crusade.

A small number of Cathars escaped after the massacre of Béziers on July 22, 1209 by Minerve and entrenched himself there. After several weeks of siege the place Minerve fell as the last refuge of the Cathars in the hands of the Crusaders. On July 22, 1210, the Cathars decided under the castle lord Guillaume de Minerve, by the way was not a Cathar, to the task. The Cistercian Abbot Arnaud Amaury - - later Archbishop of Narbonne - promised as spiritual leader of the crusade, although free passage, provided they returned to the Catholic Church, and for the remaining in the Cathar city. Outside the city, however, some 140 Cathars were burned at the stake or drowned in the swamp.

The town and castle of Minerve was initially the seat of the garrison of the king, but lost its importance and was abandoned. On the orders of Louis XIII. the castle was razed in 1637.

Culture

Minerve houses the Museum of Archaeology and Palaeontology ( " Musée d' Archéologie et de Paleontology "). This small museum 600 million years old fossils are exhibited and collected objects prehistoric and Roman and Visigoth documents. The first habitation of the surrounding caves is estimated to be about 170,000 years ago.

The Musée Hurepel an exhibit to the Cathars.