Château cathare d'Usson

Located on the border between the Aude and the Ariege, the castle of Usson shows the unity of the territory formerly known as Cathar country. Located in Canton Quérigut often referred to as "Québec ariégeois" emerges from the fortress tall forests Pyrenees. About thirty miles south-west of the castle of Puilaurens, following "the vertiginous citadels", it is perched on a spur at 920 meters above the river Aude and noisy.
Mentioned for the first time in the early eleventh century, Usson is the castle of the Lords of So and Alion. During the crusade against the Albigensians, Bernard d'Alion, important vassal of the Count of Foix and Lord of Usson, pledged allegiance to Simon de Montfort and his son Amaury. But Usson continues to serve as refuge for Cathar Parfaits. Bernard d'Alion will even send armed men to Montsegur during the siege of 1244. According to the records of the Inquisition, perfect six escaped the burning of Montsegur and took refuge temporarily Usson. In 1258, Bernard d'Alion is arrested and is then burned in Perpignan for heresy. Subsequently, the castle was a powerful bulwark against Spanish invasions of the modern era. It finally fell into disuse with the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659: like its neighbors, or Quéribus Peyrepertuse, its strategic position was destroyed by the distance from the border of the kingdom of France.
The monument then became the residence of the Marquis d'Usson until the Revolution when it was dismantled and sold in different lots. He served as a career throughout the nineteenth century. Today, consolidated and saved from ruin, this remarkable home within its walls the Heritage House.