France · 13th century
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 #330 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #36 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded 1204, it is older than 75% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 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. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Perpignan, 89 km away. It is one of the 23 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Cathar Country. It is stop 18 of 18 on the Cathar castle route, Carcassonne to Foix. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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