Château de Montségur

The Château de Montségur (English: Castle of Montsegur; Languedocien: Castèl de Montsegur) is a former fortress near Montségur, a commune in the Ariège department in southern France. Its ruins are the site of a razed stronghold of the Cathars. The present fortress on the site, though described as one of the "Cathar castles," is actually of a later period. It has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862. In July 2026, the Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc (including this fortress) were designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Text adapted from “Château de Montségur” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château de Montségur ranks #327 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #37 of the 469 mapped in France. Founded 1204, it is older than 76% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 23,965 times in the last 60 days, more than 98% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 42,000 visitors in 2016. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Perpignan, 89 km away. It is one of the 18 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Cathar Country. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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