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Standing tall on terraces on the mountain flank
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In the heart of the « Montagne Noire » (Black Mountain), to the north-west of Carcassonne, the castle of Saissac stands on its terraces facing an exceptional landscape with the Pyrenees mountains on the horizon.
The first written reference to the castle dates from 960 A.D. when it was bequeathed by the Bishop of Toulouse to the Count of Carcassonne, who, in the 11th century, decided to delegate it to powerful vassals, who, thereafter, remained the lords.
Just before the Crusade against the Albigensians, the castle belonged to Bertrand de Saissac, appointed in 1194 as guardian of the young Raymond Roger de Trencavel, heir to the viscounty of Carcassonne. Bertrand de Saissac was famous for his intervention during the election of the Prior of Alet : indeed, he had not hesitated to exhume the body of the defunct abbot and sit it on the throne in order to impose the election of one of his friends.
In 1209, the Lords of Saissac surrendered to the Crusaders and were, for a time, replaced by Bouchard de Marly, then, after 1234, by Lambert de Thurey. From that time on, the domain of Saissac was split up between several lords : though part of it was returned by King Louis IX to the deposed Lords of Saissac. Afterwards, Saissac was passed from one family to another.
It is in this historical context that the story of the «Treasure of Saissac» can be placed. In 1979, on a worksite in the village, a treasure was discovered, valued at about 200 denarius dating from the years 1250 - 1270. The fact that most of this money was coined by the central Capetian administration shows to what extent the Languedoc region used to be controlled by the Kingdom of France.
Partially ruined during the middle of the 18th century, the monument was progressively neglected. It was further damaged by treasure hunters in 1862.
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