MYSTERIES OF OCCITANIE – CATHARS & TEMPLARS: € 1,357 ALL INCLUDED

8 DAYS / 7 NIGHTS TOUR

DAY 1: Pick up at Toulouse airport and transfer to the hotel Rose des Pyrénées in Belvianes et Cavirac, in South France, in the Languedoc Roussillon region, Aude department. Includes Dinner.

DAY 2: Breakfast and visit to the Castle of Arques. This fortress is equipped with a 4-storey tower that represents a masterpiece of Gothic art. Thanks to the principles of Sacred Geometry, it combines elegance with military strategy. Return to the hotel, lunch. Visit to Puivert Castle. It is one of the most important Cathar castles, has a room entirely dedicated to music and musical instruments of the time, since in the Middle Ages it was the favorite place for the Troubadours. They were musicians and poets who traveled from court to court throughout the Occitanie, composing and singing their works. Their main theme was Courtly Love, and their poems are still surrounded by mystery. Who were they dedicated to? To a splendid Lady idealized as Beatrice was for Dante in the Divine Comedy? According to some, between the lines, those verses were accurate and enigmatic coded messages ... But for whom?
Return to the hotel, dinner.

DAY 3: Breakfast and visit to Rennes le Chateau. The mystery most investigated since the seventies: thousands of people from all over the world came here to look for the treasure of Berenger Sauniere. What was it? Jewelry? Gold coins? Papyruses attesting to the lineage of Mary Magdalene? Will it be the church, with its enigmas, the authentic richness of this little village made famous by Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code? Return to the hotel, lunch. Visit to the Castle of Puilaurens. This impressive fortress rises up on Mount Ardu, was built inside the mountain itself and it is said that its shape was so peculiar due to ancestral magical principles. During the Crusade against the Albigensians, the Castle housed many perfect Cathars, and it was never conquered by Simon de Montfort. Return to the hotel. Return to the hotel, lunch. Dinner.

DAY 4: Breakfast and visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Marceille. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it was a pilgrimage destination for its Black Madonna. In addition, it has a water source that reports having made miracles for eye diseases. Lunch. Visit to the Abbey of Saint Hilaire. It is an ancient Benedictine monastery built at the time under the protection of the Counts of Carcassonne. During the Crusade against the Albigenses, the monks were accused of heresy and handed over to the Dominicans and their Holy Inquisition, and all the lands of the Abbey were annexed to the Monastery of Prouille, where the Dominicans lived. There is a detail in this Abbey, which very few know, and which indicates the high spirituality of those who lived there. Return to the hotel, dinner.

DAY 5: Breakfast and visit to the Citè of Carcassonne. A majestic citadel declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, it is listed as a Grand Site National, and its castle and walls are a Historic Monument of France. It is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country. Surrounded by a double wall of 3 meters in length, inside preserves the typical appearance of medieval cities, with narrow and winding alleys, neighborhoods of craftsmen and corporations, and it has incredible peculiarities, such as the numerous wells, the Palace and the Donjon of Counts Trencavel, the Basilica of Saints Celsius and Nazarius. Lunch. Return to the hotel, dinner.

DAY 6: Breakfast, visit to the Castle of Queribus. Impressive fortress built inside the mountain, of 728 meters of altitude. The Donjon is a masterpiece of Sacred Geometry, with its Pillar, the only structural element supporting the Gothic style cow. The wind is one of the most important weapons that the builders knew how to use to defend the castle. Last Cathars' rampart, it was conquered by Simon de Montfort. Visit to Cucugnan and its Romanesque style church. The treasure of this church is represented by the beautiful statue of the Pregnant Virgin, who is said to be Miraculous. Lunch. Visit to the Hermitage of Galamus, which, in the 7th century, was excavated directly in the rocky cliff of the homonymous Gorges. The simple cave with its small basins of pure water is a real wonder. There lived the Hermit Saint Anthony, called the Egyptian, famous for the Miracle granted by his intercession to the inhabitants of Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, affected by an epidemic that caused gangrenous and excruciating pains. From then on, this illness was also called, in his memory, "the Fire of St. Anthony". Access to the Hermitage takes place through the famous Gorges of Galamus, which are a protected natural site, dug by the waters of the Agly river in the steep limestone cliffs. Return to the hotel, dinner.

DAY 7: Breakfast and visit to the Castle of Montsegur. This famous fortress is considered the Cathar Castle par excellence. Built in a mother fortress, it is located at 1,207 meters above sea level and contains the greatest mystery in the history of the Cathars. Settled in a state of siege for ten months by the Crusade against the Albigenses, the inhabitants were forced to surrender, abjuring their faith or choosing death at the stake. Most of the prisoners opted to reaffirm their Faith, and History tells that 210 Cathars were burned alive just outside the Castle. Legend has it that two Cathars managed to escape the night before the surrender, bringing the famous Treasure to safety. Lunch. Return to the hotel, dinner.

DAY 8: Breakfast and transfer from hotel to Toulouse airport.

Program may be subject to change.

PRICE: from 1,357 euros. Includes: pick up at Toulouse airport and transfer to the hotel Rose des Pyrénées in Belvianes et Cavirac, accommodation in shared room, full board, expert guides on the subject of Cathars, Templars and the Mysteries of Occitania, tours to the places on the itinerary, entrance tickets for all visits, transfer from the hotel to Toulouse airport on the last day.

NOT INCLUDED: flight tickets to/from Toulouse airport.