Our little village is only mentioned in some small historical footnotes!
In 1117 'Arnaut Aton de Limbrassac' was a witness in the documented cathar inquisitions held in Toulouse, and
at the end of the Cathar crusade the village was part of the huge tract of land handed to Gui de Levis (General in the army
of Simon de Montfort who did a lot of stomping around in France).
Some time before 1318 Limbrassac had a church - it is mentioned in the diocese documents of Pamiers on this date.
From its construction the current church is thought to be from the late 1200's, but little can be confirmed.
In 1329 Limbrassac passed under control of the seigneurie de Leran when the land of the Ducs de Levis was subdivided.
By 1386 The village had been fortified and is described as the 'forteresse de Limbrassac' in a domesday type listing of the kings chattels.
On 13 August 1622 Limbrassac (then protestant) was besieged by catholic troops and held out until 4th september before capitulating. The
fortifieed walls were demolished soon after although there still remain gunshot marks on the outer walls of 'Cigaliers' a private farm
up in the hills that had been built in the 1610's by the Protestant lieutenant originally sent to Limbraassac to convert the villagers.
The above mainly comes from a page about
Limbrassac
on the website of the 'Pays des Pyrenees Cathares' website (see below).
Here is a brief video from the same people, showing drone footage of Limbrassac and images of the inside of the church.
Pays de Pyrenees Cathares - Mirepoix / Montsegur
We are in the Pays des Pyrenees Cathares, which has internationally recognised sites built in (and remaining from) all periods throughout the last 1000 years.
The
Cathar Pyrenees Office de Tourism, has an excellent website, which will be even better when they
properly make it multi-language (at the moment it is in Frech only).
The area includes what are known as "the four M's":
Mirepoix - 10 minutes north of us by car
Montbel - 15 minutes east of us by car
Montseur - 15 minutes south of us by car
Monts D'Olmes - 10 minutes south of us by car
The website is INCREDIBLY well-maintained, has a page for each town and village; separate pages for all the main historical periods;
spcific pages for things like Art, religion, war and industry; and also
up to date information on events, activities, workshops, tours etc - their activities are weekly almost all year round.
