Minerve

Perched along the side of a steep gorge and with its origins going back into prehistory, the stunning village of Minerve experienced at first hand the tragedy of the Cathar crusade. It was from here that the 'Perfects', or believers in the Cathar religion, were sent to their deaths.

At the bottom of this extrordanarily picturesque village you will see the replica of the 'Malvoisine', a catapult situated on the opposite side of the gorge which pounded the walls to pieces and eventually gave the Crusaders entry to do their worst.

For the modernday tourist, of course, life is a little safer. There are a lot of cafés and restaurants in Minerve and a number of interesting shops selling everything from books to miniature figurines; there are also a couple of nice art galleries and a museum of paleontology and archaeology.