Where vicious medieval battles once took place, now placid tranquility takes over. Where metal cannonballs once raged, now only the birds’ wings dare disturb the stillness of the air.
There are quite a few surviving intermediaries between the past and the present of the French commune of Salses-le-Château. These are the Corbières mountains, the surrounding lakes, and the Catalan Fort de Salses. Luckily, you can grasp them all in just a single trip.
And we’re going to help you plan it.
As an official historical monument, recognized by the French Ministry of Culture, Fort de Salses is a prominent tourist location, sometimes welcoming more than 100,000 visitors per year.
The fortress is noticeable from the nearby A9 autoroute, and it is easily approachable from the motorway rest area. The area is 20 kilometers, or a 15-minute car drive away from Perpignan – the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department.
Fort de Salses is essentially a 15th-century military construction, erected by the Catalans to shield their border with France to the north.
The fortress is a masterpiece, designed by Francisco Ramiro Lopez – an engineer, an artillery master, and the king’s commander. He managed to successfully record the transition between medieval and modern military architecture, leaving behind a stringently geometric and part-buried construction instead of the traditional medieval castle with cylindrical towers.
Throughout its history, Fort de Salses became a subject of numerous attacks by both the French and Spanish sides. It was blockaded and switched command four times until it finally became a constant property of France after the Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed in 1659.
Fort de Salses is an exquisite structural showpiece with a lot of sections to be discovered. Its walls are nearly 10 meters thick, while its interior consists of over seven levels, all connected by a labyrinth of passageways and various internal defensive chicanes.
The fortress consists of various visit-friendly parts, including a courtyard, a chapel, kitchens and ovens, wine and water facilities, a prison and a watchman chamber, a command post, barracks, barns, and more.
Visiting all parts of Fort de Salses is expected to take between one and two astronomical hours, depending on your speed and eagerness to acknowledge all the mesmerizing details around the place.
And last but not least – don’t forget to look around and appreciate the breathtaking beauty of nature surrounding this impressive military giant.
Where vicious medieval battles once took place, now placid tranquility takes over. Where metal cannonballs once raged, now only the birds’ wings dare disturb the stillness of the air.
There are quite a few surviving intermediaries between the past and the present of the French commune of Salses-le-Château. These are the Corbières mountains, the surrounding lakes, and the Catalan Fort de Salses. Luckily, you can grasp them all in just a single trip.
And we’re going to help you plan it.
As an official historical monument, recognized by the French Ministry of Culture, Fort de Salses is a prominent tourist location, sometimes welcoming more than 100,000 visitors per year.
The fortress is noticeable from the nearby A9 autoroute, and it is easily approachable from the motorway rest area. The area is 20 kilometers, or a 15-minute car drive away from Perpignan – the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department.
Fort de Salses is essentially a 15th-century military construction, erected by the Catalans to shield their border with France to the north.
The fortress is a masterpiece, designed by Francisco Ramiro Lopez – an engineer, an artillery master, and the king’s commander. He managed to successfully record the transition between medieval and modern military architecture, leaving behind a stringently geometric and part-buried construction instead of the traditional medieval castle with cylindrical towers.
Throughout its history, Fort de Salses became a subject of numerous attacks by both the French and Spanish sides. It was blockaded and switched command four times until it finally became a constant property of France after the Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed in 1659.
Fort de Salses is an exquisite structural showpiece with a lot of sections to be discovered. Its walls are nearly 10 meters thick, while its interior consists of over seven levels, all connected by a labyrinth of passageways and various internal defensive chicanes.
The fortress consists of various visit-friendly parts, including a courtyard, a chapel, kitchens and ovens, wine and water facilities, a prison and a watchman chamber, a command post, barracks, barns, and more.
Visiting all parts of Fort de Salses is expected to take between one and two astronomical hours, depending on your speed and eagerness to acknowledge all the mesmerizing details around the place.
And last but not least – don’t forget to look around and appreciate the breathtaking beauty of nature surrounding this impressive military giant.
Where vicious medieval battles once took place, now placid tranquility takes over. Where metal cannonballs once raged, now only the birds’ wings dare disturb the stillness of the air.
There are quite a few surviving intermediaries between the past and the present of the French commune of Salses-le-Château. These are the Corbières mountains, the surrounding lakes, and the Catalan Fort de Salses. Luckily, you can grasp them all in just a single trip.
And we’re going to help you plan it.
As an official historical monument, recognized by the French Ministry of Culture, Fort de Salses is a prominent tourist location, sometimes welcoming more than 100,000 visitors per year.
The fortress is noticeable from the nearby A9 autoroute, and it is easily approachable from the motorway rest area. The area is 20 kilometers, or a 15-minute car drive away from Perpignan – the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department.
Fort de Salses is essentially a 15th-century military construction, erected by the Catalans to shield their border with France to the north.
The fortress is a masterpiece, designed by Francisco Ramiro Lopez – an engineer, an artillery master, and the king’s commander. He managed to successfully record the transition between medieval and modern military architecture, leaving behind a stringently geometric and part-buried construction instead of the traditional medieval castle with cylindrical towers.
Throughout its history, Fort de Salses became a subject of numerous attacks by both the French and Spanish sides. It was blockaded and switched command four times until it finally became a constant property of France after the Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed in 1659.
Fort de Salses is an exquisite structural showpiece with a lot of sections to be discovered. Its walls are nearly 10 meters thick, while its interior consists of over seven levels, all connected by a labyrinth of passageways and various internal defensive chicanes.
The fortress consists of various visit-friendly parts, including a courtyard, a chapel, kitchens and ovens, wine and water facilities, a prison and a watchman chamber, a command post, barracks, barns, and more.
Visiting all parts of Fort de Salses is expected to take between one and two astronomical hours, depending on your speed and eagerness to acknowledge all the mesmerizing details around the place.
And last but not least – don’t forget to look around and appreciate the breathtaking beauty of nature surrounding this impressive military giant.
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