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Origin and history

The Castle of Ultrère, also called Ultrera or Oltrera in Catalan, is a castle today in ruins, located at 571 meters above sea level on a rocky spur of the Alber massif. Its name, derived from the Latin Castrum Vulturarium ("Château du Vulture"), evokes its difficult access and its historic role as a difficult accessible den. Although traces of Roman occupation are supposed (related to the wars of Sertorus, Pompey and Julius Caesar between 82 and 47 B.C.), the majority of the remains date from the Wisigothic period (VIth–VIIth centuries). The site was first mentioned in 673, when King wisigoth Wamba took it against the supporters of Duke Paul, self-proclaimed king of Septimania.

In the Middle Ages, the castle was attached to the seigneury of Sorède, whose lords bore the title "Lords of Sorède and Ultrera". A Romanesque chapel dedicated to the Virgin, built around the year 1000, made it a place of pilgrimage and then a hermitage. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, the site seems abandoned by its garrison, leaving only a hermit as an occupant. In 1344, the castle was taken by the Aragonese during the conflicts between Jacques de Mallorca and the crown of Aragon. The French-Spanish wars of the seventeenth century briefly gave him a military role, before his destruction in 1675 by order of Jeanne de Vilaplana, wife of Gaston de Foix, to avoid any pro-Spanish resistance after the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659).

The systematic destruction includes the chapel, whose elements (marble door, bells, Virgin and altarpiece) were reused to build the Our Lady of the Castle below. The altarpiece and the Virgin, classified as Historical Monuments, are always visible there. Today, the site attracts hikers, climbers (about 100 climbing routes equipped) and paragliders, while preserving archaeological remains bearing witness to its strategic past. However, part of the estate has been banned from access since a 2017 municipal decree.

The castle's etymology, linked to vultures (vultur in Latin), reflects both its isolated position and its tormented history. The excavations and written sources, like the works of Abbé Christofeul (19th century), underline its importance in the defence of the Roussillon, between Roman, Wisigothic and medieval influences. The Portuguese scholar Padre Himalaya even conducted experiments with a solar oven in 1900, adding a scientific touch to his legacy.

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