The Château de Mirabat () is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

dating from before the Middle Ages in the ''

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of Seix,

Oust The Oust (; ) is a river in Brittany, France, right tributary of the Vilaine. It is long. Its source is in the hills between Corlay and Quintin. It flows generally southeast, through the following ''départements'' and towns: * Côtes-d'Armo ...

and Ustou in the Ariège ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of France.

History

In excavation at Mirabat, a shard of Roman amphora was found at the bottom of a water tank. It is the oldest of the Ariege's castles and one of the oldest castles in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. It was probably preceded by a "fire tower" built on the personal orders of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

. Mirabat was probably built to cope with a possible invasion of the Spanish Moors who passed through the pass of Salau, in sight of the castle. It became a garrison of the Viscount of Couserans in the 12th century to strengthen the frontier.

Architecture

The castle was a garrison evidenced by its size and location. It could serve as a grouping of people and there was no stately home. The legendary Mirabat Cave is allows access to the Château de La Garde below. It contained a golden bell that sounded the alarm at the approach of danger. It is a simple cavity that leads to a vertical well after 8 m and after 30 m the course ends with a small passage too narrow for the passage of a man.

Name and location

"Mirabat" is derived from the

Occitan language Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, ...

''mira abat'', meaning to "look down". The choice of this strategic location was to monitor two routes leading from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the Ustou and Martérat valleys, and the Salat valley from the pass of Salau. The castle overlooks the village of Seix.

Castle defensive system

The castle is part of an exceptionally rare defensive system associated with the Château de La Garde. The castle was constructed at a very early date: it was in ruins in the 14th century. Its walls are built of white marble.

Property

The property of the state and the commune, it has been listed since 1995 as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

References

External links

*
Photos of Mirabat castle
Monuments historiques of Ariège (department) Ruined castles in Occitania (administrative region) {{France-castle-stub