Our tour to this sacred landscape has been designed to allow you to see and experience its beauty, heritage and mystery. We will begin with a visit to the small hilltop village of Rennes-le-Chateau, slumbering since the 9th century, it was to suddenly arouse with the arrival of a new parish priest, the enigmatic abbé Berénger Saunière. Here was a man with outwardly simple means who was able to lavishly renovate the chapel but also build a villa and a strange neo-gothic tower. Stories abounded then and have yet to cease to this day, as to how he was able to fund such work. What had he discovered in the area to provide these funds? Or was this wealth payment for his sworn secrecy? 

 

We shall also visit the majestic hilltop castle at Montsegur.  An incredible feat of construction in itself, perched 3000 ft up, overlooking the Pyrenees, this was the site of one of the last Cathar strongholds and was the location of the famous siege by 10,000 French troops which eventually ended with the surrender of just over 200 Cathars who refused to renounce their faith and were burnt to death en masse at the foot of the mountain. Although legend has a few Cathars conducting a daring escape down the precipitous cliffs and through the French lines with a valuable ‘treasure’. 

 

The town of  Carcassonne is dominated by the stunning beauty of the ancient fortified cité. A strategically important location since pre Roman times, the walls and ornate towers of the cité still commandingly overlook the present day town and surrounding landscape. Within the ramparts, a whole city exists with its narrow, winding streets, picturesque squares and the extraordinary beauty of St. Nazaire Cathedral.