Lastours () 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 ...

. Lastours is located outside

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. ...

, in the valley of the Orbiel. There are four small castles each built on a large 300 m high rocky ridge. The castles were built to control the access to the

Montagne Noire The Montagne Noire (; , known as the 'Black Mountain' in English) is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central at the juncture of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departments. Its highe ...

and the Cabardes region. These are some of the few original Cathar castles left.

History

Traces of human occupation date back to

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

in a cave called the ''Trou de la ville'' at the foot of the Lastours castles. The history of the village is linked to the different occupations of the castles of Lastours. * Lastours has a very large

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 ...

site with its

Châteaux de Lastours The Châteaux de Lastours (in Occitan ''Lastors'') are four so-called Cathar castles in the French '' commune'' of Lastours in the ''département'' of l'Aude. The four castles are on a rocky spur above the village of Lastours, isolated by the ...

composed of four towers, hence the origin of its name. The development of

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

has been known in Lastours since Antiquity. Indeed, the region is rich in

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and is an important center of mining extraction. The village is surrounded by mining deposits: * The Barrencs of Fournes, exploited by the Romans for copper and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

-bearing

. * Les Caunettes, exploited in the 16th and 17th century for iron and silver. * Salsigne-

Villanière Villanière (; ) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the 433 Communes of France, communes of the Aude Departments of France, department o ...

was exploited for gold from the middle of the 19th century. The village was only served by a road from 1863. In the 19th century, the cloth industry flourished in Lastours.

Population

References

Communes of Aude Aude communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Aude-geo-stub