Château de Quéribus

It is often described that way because surviving Cathars gathered there after Montségur fell in 1244. Quéribus surrendered in 1255, making it one of the final Cathar-linked fortresses to fall.

The ruined fortress stands above Cucugnan in the Aude department of southern France. It sits on a high rocky peak in the Corbières, near the border of Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales.

The castle was defended by Chabert de Barbaira and surrendered to forces associated with Olivier de Termes. The exact circumstances remain debated, but the handover ended Quéribus's role as a refuge.

Quéribus is one of the so-called Five Sons of Carcassonne, along with Aguilar, Peyrepertuse, Puilaurens, and Termes. These castles later served as French royal frontier fortresses until the border moved south after the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees.