Puycelsi village

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The fortified village of Puycelsi Puycelsi or the aptly named “fortress of the woods” as it seems to emerge as if by magic from the heart of the forest. Planted on its rocky outcrop, it now offers one of the most beautiful views of the region, in which it is good to gaze at the horizon. If Puycelsi is classified among the “most beautiful villages in France” it is because it is a unique place! Because Puycelsi is an experience in its own right; it is already a discovery when you see it, perched on its promontory which dominates the forest. Then you have to climb the slope, even if it is much more pleasant today by car, bike or motorbike than in the days of the medieval assaults, when the troops climbed the slope on foot, armor on their backs, with arrows and boiling oil as a welcome !! Today the welcome is the smile of genuine people, who have reconquered this ancient citadel to make it a haven of peace! In 2018, Puycelsi and Castelnau-de-Montmiral joined the prestigious circle of Grands Sites Occitanie, under the aegis of the Cordes-sur-ciel & medieval cities destination. In 1180, Abbé Pierre d'Aurillac sold this seigneury to the Count of Toulouse, Raymond V, to whom the strategic importance of the site had not escaped. The Counts of Toulouse fortified the square and built a castle, which has since disappeared, and which everything suggests that it was their favorite. Faithful to the Count of Toulouse, Puycelsi twice resisted the Montfort during the Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Monfort in 1211, then his brother Guy in 1213, who could not seize the citadel. In 1229, the Treaty of Meaux which marked the end of the Albigensian Crusade stipulated that twenty-five towns that had resisted the victors were to be destroyed. Then began the dismantling of Puycelsi.