Quéribus, Cucugnan and Duilhac
France > Languedoc > Southern > Cathar castles > Quéribus, Cucugnan and Duilhac

Quéribus © Claude choisel

The Château de Quéribus (Feb, March, Nov & Dec Sat, Sun & hols 10am–5pm; April & Oct daily 9.30am–6.30pm; May, June & Sept daily 9.30am–7.30pm; July & Aug daily 9am–8pm; €4), 30km further east towards Perpignan, stands on the ridge above the vine-ringed village of Cucugnan which marked the French-Spanish border until the seventeenth century. It is spectacularly situated, balanced on a pillar of rock above a sheer cliff, whose crevices nourish a variety of beautiful wild flowers, and lies just a few kilometres north of the main Quillan–Perpignan road – with a good chance of a lift up to the castle.

Because of the extreme, cramped topography of the rock, the space within the walls is stepped in terraces, dominated by the polygonal keep and accessible by a single stairway. Inside, at the heart of the keep, is the remarkable chapel of St-Louis-de-Quéribus, surprisingly high and wide when you consider the keep's tortured position, and supported by a single pillar. The stairs to the roof are broken, but from the window halfway up there are fantastic views to Canigou and Perpignan, with other castles and watchtowers of the Spanish Marches dotting the peaks and ridges. To the northwest you're within easy eyeshot of Peyrepertuse.

The history of Quéribus is similar to that of Puilaurens, though the fortifications visible today are thirteenth century. It was the last stronghold of Cathar resistance, holding out until 1255, eleven years after the fall of Montségur. Never reduced by siege, its role as a sanctuary for the Cathars ended with the capture of the luckless Chabert.

Entry to Quéribus also includes the Théâtre Achille Mir (same hours) in the small village of CUCUGNAN, in the valley to the north of the Château. Through an imaginative slide-show the theatre retells the story of the Curé de Cucugnan, hero of Alphonse Daudet's book Lettres de Mon Moulin; locals claim he's based on their own nineteenth-century abbot Ruffié. The village also has a rare statue of a pregnant Virgin Mary in its pretty little church. There's accommodation at the Auberge du Vigneron, opposite the theatre (tel 04.68.45.40.84, fax 04.68.45.01.52; €30–40; closed mid-Feb to mid-March; restaurant closed Sun eve & Mon), while the Auberge de Cucugnan (tel 04.68.45.03.00, fax 04.68.45.01.52; €40–55; closed Feb), near the church, has a restaurant known for its hearty servings of game (from €15.50 including wine; closed on Wed Sept–June). The nearest other rooms are in DUILHAC, about 4km away below Peyrepertuse, at the Auberge du Vieux Moulin (tel 04.68.45.02.17, fax 04.68.45.02.18; €30–40; closed late Dec to early Feb; restaurant from €8.50). There's also an alimentation in the village, selling bread, open even on Sunday morning.