Puilaurens : Ruins of the castle

Called "Castrum de Podio Laurenti" in medieval documents, the vestiges show that it was built during the Gallo-Roman period. The castle watches the camp of Campérié and witnessed the battles to establish the Kingdom of Toulouse. The Visigoths have invaded by the passage controlled by the castle from Barcelona. During the Albigensian crusade, the fortress resisted Simon de Montfort. In 1250, the estate was given to Jacques Ier, king of Aragon. In 1258, a treaty (the Treaty of Corbeil) was signed between King Jacques and Saint-Louis, and the viscounty joined the crown. At that time, the Fenouillet coat of arms disappears from the Puylaurens keep and was replaced by the French flag. Puylaurens then becomes a royal fortress. Saint-Louis restores the castle and bought the rights that Bernard Taillefer, count of Fenouillet, had given in 1011 to the abbey of Saint-Martin-de-Cuxa. In 1260, the seneschal of Carcassonne mandates 25 sergeants of arms and a chaplain, making Puylaurens the most garnished fortress in the surrounding area. Under Louis XI and Charles VIII, the castle resists the Spanish armies. However, in 1636, the Spanish seized the fortress and demolished it. Although it is partly restored, the castle loses its importance until the Revolution, a period at which it is almost abandoned, inhabited by some veterans under the authority of a subordinate officer. Abandoned, the building deteriorates and its towers and its walls collapse.