A Must see in the CAthar country

Top of the list in the Corbières

Peyrepertuse: Just stunning

Huge, impressing, fabulous, breathtaking, sublime, amazing, beautiful, extraordinary, spectacular...

Those are the emotions and sensations, shared on the social network by our visitors.

This castle is a Major Site to experience an unique journey.

In a beautiful surrounding nature

Peyrepertuse is at the top of a limestone cliff with a magnificent panoramic view.

Come to visit, make the path and let yourself be guided by your imagination and this site

which crystallizes bravery, fighting and resistance, values that still echo today.

How is the Weather Today?

PEYRePERTUSE AND SURROUNDINGS ARE worth TO VISIT ALL YEAR ROUND

In spring you will discover a significant amount and variety of a preserved wild flora

In summer you will appreciate a gorgeous swimming spot to refresh after the visit of the castle

You'll be delighted by the colours of automn. It is the most beautiful season in the Corbières

In winter you will often find yourself alone. The castle is yours and it has a magic athmosphere.

More than 3 millions visitors

Since more than 30 years the castle of peyrepertuse fascinates and attracts Visitors from all over the world

And when do YOU come to visit us ?

Openings and Prices

Access and Parking

Safety Precautions

Sebastien Pla, mayor of the village Duilhac sous Peyrepertuse and Sylvie Caucanas, member of the scientific committee and general heritage curator, presenting the Castle of Peyrepertuse and the importance of its classification by UNESCO.

This immense monument, built on a vast rocky spur is by its geographical situation a masterpiece of the medieval architecture. It assured the control of the French territory.

The UNESCO classification could help to preserve this

extraordinary site and its magnificent natural environment for the

following generations and for a healthier and better future.

Peyrepertuse, royal fortress candidate for the UNESCO

It is the utmost recognition the whole territory is dreaming of. A candidature, led by the Department of Aude, the Cité de Carcassonne and it's network of mountain fortresses: Aguilar, Lastours, Montségur, Puilaurens, Quéribus, Termes whose principal vessel is Peyrepertuse.

Support the candidature, join the support committee here !

Some history

The site has been occupied since the Gallo-Roman age (1 BC to 1AC)

In 842, Peyrepertuse has been mentioned a first time in the texts.

From the beginning of the feudal system in the 11th century the castle of Peyrepertuse depends on Narbonne and later on Barcelona.

In the 12^th century exists a first castle protected by a wall and including a church.

After the crusades in the early 12th century the castle of Peyrepertuse becomes a royal fortress at the signing of the treaty of Corbeil in 1258.

The triangular lower wall of the courtyard was built in the middle of the 13^th century. In 1242 the King Saint Louis or Louis 9 orders to cut stairs into the rock.

The latest fortification rampart of the center part and the rebuilding of Saint Jordi’s keep were achieved in the 16^th and 17^th century.

Since the construction of the fortress of Peyrepertuse its tasks are to ensure the control of the territory, which is still heretic and dissident to the King of France, and to resist against the enemy, the King of Aragon.

In 1659 after the end of the war between Spain and France signed in the treaty of the Pyrenees, the fortress loses its strategical interest. A small garrison occupies the fortress until the French revolution.