Château d'Aguilar

             The castle of Aguilar rises in the Cathar country, in a landscape of aromatic garrigue vegetation which contrasts with the order of the Haut Fitou vineyards. Set on the rock like a crown, the castle looks over the plain of Tuchan.
             The name "Aguilar” comes from the Latin word "Aquila” which means ‘eagle'. In 1020 the first mention of the Puy Aguilar appeared in the testament of Bernard Taillefer, Count of Besalù, great grand-son of Wilfried Le Velu, who bequeathed it to his elder son, Guilhem.
            Later, it became "Castle of Aguilar”, possession of the Lords of Termes, vassals of the Trencavel family. After the Crusade against the Albigensians, the castle belonged to the King of France, who returned it to Olivier de Termes in 1250, as a gift for his brilliant actions in the Holy Land.
            Because of the Treaty of Corbeil in 1258, the castle of Aguilar became a forward position defending the French-Aragon border. Louis IX, King of France, bought the castle of Aguilar in 1260, which then became a royal fortress, one of the five sons of the Cité of Carcassonne. In 1659, the Treaty of the Pyrenees moved the border further towards the Pyrenees