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Origin and history

Castrum du Castlar, also known as castrum de Durfort, is an ancient medieval fortified village built on the heights of Durfort, in the Tarn. Founded in the early 13th century, it is attributed to the family of the lords of Roquefort, themselves vassals of the Trencavel, rivals of the Counts of Toulouse. His name appeared as early as 1141 through a donation of land by Roger I. Trencavel, and mentions of Castlar's Isarn between 1142 and 1153 suggested an earlier occupation. The site, a strategic one, quickly houses inhabitants from the nearby Castrum Berniquaut, in decline.

During the Crusade of the Albigeois, the lords of Roquefort, including Jourdain de Roquefort, supported the Cathar party. Although the castrum is not directly attacked, it protects from the perfect (cathars), like Arnaud Raymond Gauti, future fighter of Montségur. After the submission of the Trencavels in 1246, the king of France imposed the allegiance of the inhabitants. In 1257, Alphonse de Poitiers confiscated part of the Roquefort lands, accused of heresy, to give them to the Abbey of Sorèze.

As early as 1274, a new village developed below, near the Sor, attracting the inhabitants thanks to its drapery mills and accessibility. The castrum, a symbol of seigneurial power, was gradually depopulated because of the black plague and the great companies during the Hundred Years' War. Abandoned at the end of the 14th century, today only ruins remain. Excavations (1976, 1988–1992) revealed its foundations and artifacts, such as a burning attic illuminating medieval food. Ranked a historic monument in 1996, the site bears witness to the feudal and cathar history of Occitanie.

The castrum was organized around a high castle, with a tower, a seigneurial house and a lower courtyard, surrounded by two sets of terraced dwellings. An enclosure and dry moat protected him. Absence of church, perhaps due to the Cathar influence, but presence of grain silos dug in the rock. The houses, modest, used relief and local materials (schiste, limestone). Some had a south courtyard for the better.

The links between castrum and Trencavel illustrate the feudal tensions of the time. Although theoretically under the authority of Toulouse County, Durfort depended de facto on the Viscounts Trencavel, masters of a vast estate of Albi in Carcassonne. This political ambiguity, coupled with the protection of the cathars, marked its history until its decline, accelerated by the crises of the 14th century and the creation of the bastide of Revel.

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