Cathar strongholds - Day 22

Minerve, Carcassonne

Friday, 12 October 2012
It was a colder day - particularly the wind. We headed up to Minerve.
A bit if history:
With the backing of God and the Pope, with men hungry for loot and blood, Simon de Montfort laid seige, to the impregnable fortress village. And to speed things along he attacked St Rustique's well, the principal waters source for the village, found at the base of the village. Four catapults were set up around the village, -three towards the city gates and the fourth - the largest named "Malevoisine" to destroy the well.
The village was well protected with double surrounding walls, and overhanging ledges; but this did not stop the fear that Montfort gave. For the Viscount Guilhem of Minerve knew that the 200 men of his garrison couldn't resist the onslaught, if the gates should fall. And as the walls gave in of St Rustique's well, he negotiated the town's surrender. He saved the villagers and his self, but 140 Parfaits who had taken refuge, were burnt at the stake, because they refused to deny their faith. The burning of parfaits was the first in the crusade, a terrible act that was to be repeated for another 34 years until the fall of Montsegur.
Little is left of the fortress, except for the "candela" - a single slender octagonal tower. The village is a hodge-podge of narrow alleys, topped by a simple 12th century church that always seems closed. Nearby is a charming museum of full of figurines showing the history of the Cathars and Minerve.
We didn't go into the museum and as well as the church many of the shops were closed. But that doesn't take away the desolate beauty. We also walked down to the river bed - the river flows underground in the summer and only comes above ground in winter. There is also a natural bridge and Bruce explored under there a little. Michael wasn't quite so brave!
We then headed over to Caune-Minervois which boasts an 8th century Benedictine Abbey, a marble quarry and is also a medieval town. We had a nice lunch at the Marble place but the Spanish bus tour which arrived at Minerve as we left (which was annoying when we needed the toilet as they created a huge queue) arrived for lunch while we were still eating and the service promptly went downhill. So ..no tip was left there!
Then onto Carcasonne! Val and Mike's advice is to arrive early or late (around 4.00pm) when the tour buses are leaving. I think they are right. We probably could have done with being a touch earlier as the palace and ramparts closed at 5.00pm. This of course didn't stop us explore every corner and Michael buying another knight for his collection. We had a Pre-dinner drink at a bar and met a local and his dog. Actually..the local was from Belgium.

	Minerve from the Carpark [Map]		The candela [Map]
	In the village [Map]		In the 'dry' river [Map]
	More of the river [Map]		The abbey in Caune-Minervois [Map]
	the abbey garden [Map]		Inside the church [Map]
	Carcasonne walls [Map]		Carcasonne walls [Map]
	Carcasonne at night [Map]

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