Cucugnan (; ) is a
commune in the
Aude
Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it " ...
department in southern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, approximately north-west of
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...
. The small village lies in a valley in the
Corbières Massif
The Corbières Massif ( ; ; ) is a mountain range in the Pre-Pyrenees. It is the only true foothill of the Pyrenees on their northern side.
Geography
The Corbières are a mountain region in the Languedoc-Roussillon in southeastern France, loc ...
, overlooked by the ruined
Château de Quéribus, which stands at the top of a hill to the south of Cucugnan.
History
The first documented mention of a settlement called ''Cucuniano'' is a record of a gift of land from
Roger I, Count of Carcassonne to the Abbey of
Lagrasse
Lagrasse (; ) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Lagrasse is part of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") association.
Geography
Lagrasse is about south ...
in the year 951. In the 13th century, during the
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...
against the
Cathar
Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries.
Denounced as a he ...
s, the Lord of Cucugnan participated in the Cathar resistance before he was forced to submit to
King Louis IX. In 1495, Cucugnan was destroyed by the Spanish invaders and a new village grew up around the ruined medieval village.
Landmarks
The village is clustered around a small hill, at the top of which stands its main landmark, a 17th-century
windmill
A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery.
Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...
, the ''Moulin d'Omer''. The windmill was owned by the Lords of Cucugnan until the
French Revolution and was mentioned in historical archives dating from 1692. By the 1830s, it had fallen into ruin, but it was rebuilt and brought back into working order in a restoration project in 2003. Today the windmill is used for
milling
Milling may refer to:
* Milling (minting), forming narrow ridges around the edge of a coin
* Milling (grinding), breaking solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting in a mill
* Milling (machining), a process of using ro ...
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
and other grains for local culinary use.
The remains of a
castrum
''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...
are still visible above the windmill. Adjacent to the windmill is the 14th-century church of
Saint Julien and
Saint Basilissa. The church houses an unusual wooden statue of a pregnant
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, a depiction considered controversial in traditional Catholic iconography.
[
The Château de Quéribus, which lies south-east of Cucugnan, is a notable '']monument historique
() is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
'' and it is sometimes regarded as the last stronghold of the followers of the Cathar faith after their defeat at Montségur in 1244. Marketed by the modern tourist industry as a " Cathar castle", Quéribus was originally built to defend the border between France and Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
. The larger Château de Peyrepertuse, another influential citadel in the region, lies approximately north-west of Cucugnan.
Cucugnan featured in the short story, "The Priest of Cucugnan", published in 1869 by the Parisian author Alphonse Daudet
Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet.
Early life
Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ' ...
in his collection '' Letters from My Windmill'', although the windmill referred to in the title is the ''Moulin Saint-Pierre'' at Fontvieille, Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...
region. Daudet's story is based on a sermon
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...
preached in 1858 by the Abbot Ruffié which attempts to persuade the local Christian congregation to turn to a virtuous life by recounting an imaginary trip to heaven
Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
, purgatory
In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...
and hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
, where the narrator finds all the old inhabitants of Cucugnan being tortured among the flames. The story reputedly originated with a Narbonne
Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...
writer, Hercules Birat, later rewritten by Achille Mir of Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
, and finally acquired and popularised by Daudet. ''Letters from My Windmill'' was adapted as a film in 1954 by Marcel Pagnol
Marcel Paul Pagnol (, also ; ; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the . Pagnol is generally regarded as one of France's ...
.[
File:Cucugnan 02.jpg, The main street in Cucugnan
Cucugnan, moulin.JPG, The windmill at Cucugnan
File:Cucugnan Quéribus.jpg, The view from Cucugnan over the church towards Quéribus Castle
]
Population
See also
* Corbières AOC
Corbières () is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for wine in the Languedoc-Roussillon, France, and it is this region's largest AOC, responsible for 46 per cent of the region's AOC wine production in 2005. Red wine dominates the prod ...
* Communes of the Aude department
The following is a list of the 433 Communes of France, communes of the Aude Departments of France, department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 2025):
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Communes of Aude