Montségur
Montsegur ( Occitan Montsegur, safer mountain ) is a municipality with 124 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) in France. It is located in the department of Ariège in the Midi-Pyrénées region.
Geography
Geographical Location
The place Montsegur is located at an average altitude of 850 meters on the southern flank of the Pog ( Occitan Poch ) de Montsegur, a 1,200 m high mountain peak in the French Pyrenees.
History
How Archeological excavations revealed the first settlement of the mountain was already at the time of Neanderthal man (approx. 80,000 BC). Even traces of settlement from the Roman period are shown.
In the Middle Ages there was a fortified village ( castrum ) on the tip of the Pogs that served as a refuge for the Cathar church in the Languedoc during the Albigensian crusade in the 13th century. However, the castrum had to after a siege on March 16, 1244 a royal army found what over 200 Cathars were burned. The castrum was then removed and replaced by the visible today on the Pog castle in the late 13th century. Around the same time the present village of the same name was created at the foot of Montsegur.
Demography
Culture and sights
- Castle Montsegur
- The Musée historique et Archaeological displays exhibits on life in castle and village in the Middle Ages.