Collégiale Saint-Michel de Castelnaudary

Castelnaudary

Castelnaudary — "the new castle of the Arians", says its Latin name, which does not mean that heretics were more numerous there than elsewhere — is in September 1211 the turning point of the crusade. Simon de Montfort, at the end of his men, shuts himself up there with a few hundred combatants; Raymond VI of Toulouse, the count of Foix and Savary de Mauléon besiege him with a far superior army. The siege turns to disaster for the besiegers: a supply convoy led by Bouchard de Marly is attacked by the count of Foix at Saint-Martin-la-Lande, the charge of Montfort, sallying out of the town, turns the battle, and Raymond VI strikes camp. Toulouse would remember a missed opportunity; Montfort, having been saved by his own daring. The collegiate church, built after the crusade and rebuilt when the Black Prince had burned the town in 1355, occupies the top of the mound where the castrum stood; its bell-tower looks down on the Grand Bassin of the canal, which did not yet exist.

Wikipédia — Collégiale Saint-Michel ↗

Getting there : At the top of the old town, place Saint-Michel. Open during the day. Castelnaudary station (Toulouse-Narbonne line) ten minutes away; parking at the Grand Bassin. From the bell-tower, when it opens, the view stretches over the Lauragais as far as the Montagne noire.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound