Forteresse de Salses
Maybe, like us, you have often driven past the château or forteresse de Salses on your way to Spain on the via Domitia, thought it looked interesting but didn’t have time to stop. One day we decided to make a day out specifically to visit there and in our view it is well worth it.
Situated in the Pyrénées orientales, this château was built between 1497 and 1504, by the Spanish architect Francisco Ramiro Lopez for the King Ferdinand of Aragon, King of Spain on a site with a source of spring water where an older castle had stood before. Its purpose was to guard the former border between France and Spain and it was intended to be able to withstand metal cannon bullets.
It could house 1500 men and 300 horses. Its red brick and natural stone walls are low and up to 9 meters thick. A large part of the château has been built below the normal level of the soil to all for greater protection from the enemy.
It was besieged, captured and recaptured in 1503, 1639, and 1640, before being definitively taken by the French in 1642. The Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 redrew the borders, and Salses became part of France and lost its strategic role and importance. It was partially restored by Vauban in 1691. It is a very well preserved example of the transition between medieval fortified château and the modern bastioned fortifications.
It is a French National Monument, called officially La Forteresse de Salses, and is now a museum which houses a collection of modern, avant-garde sculpture.
Times may vary but generally the Salses fortress is open every day, in summer from 9.30 to 19.00 (from June to September), and from October to May 10.00-12.15 and after lunch 14.00-17.00. Last guided tour 1 hour before closing.
Closed: January 1, May 1, November 1 and 11. And 25 December
You get a guided tour of the interior of the fortress but you can wander freely round the outside
Forteresse de Salses
66600 SALSES-LE-CHÂTEAU.
Telephone: (+33) 04 68 38 6013
From Béziers : A 9 towards Perpignan, exit n° 40, then take D 627 and N 9 towards Perpignan.
From Perpignan : N 9 towards Narbonne.
Partial access for disabled people.
Inside the church you will see a horseshoe arch separating the nave from the altar. This is typically Visigothic. All the experts agree that the capitals above the pillars holding it, are Visigothic. The pillars themselves are “antique marble re-used.” Maybe even Roman. So it sounds to me that the church, maybe much smaller, existed in the 8th century and was renovated several times, obviously. The last one was done in 1853 – see the date above the arch.
Outside is a tiny graveyard. Standing in it one sees clearly the Romanesque style of the doors and windows. I believe the door on the left was not the original entrance – that would have been where is now the road, for the church was orientated west-east, as Visigothic churches always were. One entered St. Martin des Puits and saw that lovely arch straight ahead, and the frescoes.
