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Origin and history

The castles of Lastours, called Las Tors ("The Towers") in Occitan, are four medieval fortresses built between the 12th and 13th centuries on a rocky spur above the present village. Although reconstructed and modified until the 17th century, their ruins today testify to their strategic role in the Cabardès, controlling the valleys of Orbiel and Gresillou. Ranked as historical monuments from 1905, then partially re-registered in 2023–24, they formed a coherent defensive ensemble, adapted to the steep relief, with heterogeneous plans reflecting successive changes.

Before the Albigeian Crusade, the site belonged to the lords of Cabaret, mentioned in 1067, whose wealth came from local mining (iron, lead, silver). Three castles probably existed as early as the 11th century, evolving with destruction and reconstruction. In the 13th century, Lastours became a high place of Catharism: the castral village housed houses of perfects and welcomed Catholic bishops like Arnaud Hot or Guiraud Abith. Pierre Roger de Cabaret, lord of the place and ally of Raymond-Roger Trencavel, strongly resisted Simon de Montfort during the crusade, before surrendering in 1229 after years of siege.

During the royal occupation, the castles were looted and rebuilt as administrative fortresses, marking Capetian supremacy. The Régine Tower, built by the king's command, symbolized this authority. In the 16th century, the Huguenots took refuge there before being relocated in 1591. The current remains — Cabaret (main citadel), Régine Tower, Surdespine and Quertinheux — reveal various defensive techniques: dungeons, courtines, cisterns and round paths. Their online layout on the ridge, at 300 m above sea level, optimised the control of access routes to the Black Mountain.

Their architecture mixes honeycombs and cut stone, with peculiarities such as the blind arches of Cabaret or the vaulted tank of Surdespine. The destruction of the seigneurial towers in the thirteenth century, ordered to eradicate the Cathar refuges, explains their reconstruction in higher position. The decline of the castral villages to the benefit of the village of Rivière (now Lastours at the Revolution) sealed their gradual abandonment, thus preserving their ruins as an exceptional testimony of Occitan history.

Recent excavations and studies, such as those of Marie-Élise Gardel, have clarified their spatial organization and their role in medieval society. Today, the site is open to the public. Its strengthened ranking in 2024 underscores its heritage importance, linked to both military architecture, Catharism and Occitan resistance against the crown of France.

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