Villefranche-de-Conflent: Vauban's Walls, the Thousand Steps to Fort Libéria and Saint-Martin-du-Canigou
Occitanie, France
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
2 days
Villefranche-de-Conflent: Vauban's Walls, the Thousand Steps to Fort Libéria and Saint-Martin-du-Canigou
300 + 100 XP
Villefranche-de-Conflent, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, had its medieval walls pulled down after the French took it in 1654 and new ones built to Vauban's plans from 1669, finished only with the porte de France in 1783 and the porte d'Espagne in 1791. On 7 July 2008 UNESCO listed the fortified ensemble — the walls, the citadel of Fort Libéria and the Cova Bastera caves — as part of the Vauban network. Fort Libéria, built from 1681 at the same time as Mont-Louis, stands about 150 m above the town and is reached by an underground stair of 734 steps that Napoleon III had cut between 1850 and 1853. A few kilometres south, the abbey of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, whose church was consecrated on 10 November 1009, has two churches built one above the other, which the source calls very rare.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Walk the circuit of Vauban's walls at Villefranche and find all three parts of the UNESCO ensemble from the ground: the enceinte itself, Fort Libéria on the slope above, and the entrance to the Cova Bastera caves cut into the rock at the foot of the wall
2
of 4
Climb the 734 steps of Napoleon III's underground stair up to Fort Libéria and find the cells where Louis XIV's police held the women of the affaire des poisons — Anne Guesdon for thirty-six years and La Chapelain for forty-three, until they died there
3
of 4
Walk the 250 m of ascent from Casteil up to Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, then find all three churches on the site: the Virgin's, half cut into the rock and barely three metres high, Saint Martin's directly above it, and Saint Michael's up in the separate bell tower
4
of 4
In the abbey cloister, work out which three of the four galleries are the old ones and which was rebuilt from stone taken off a 12th-century upper storey, and pace the irregular quadrilateral — 14 m on three sides, 10 on the west
Walk the circuit of Vauban's walls at Villefranche and find all three parts of the UNESCO ensemble from the ground: the enceinte itself, Fort Libéria on the slope above, and the entrance to the Cova Bastera caves cut into the rock at the foot of the wall
Climb the 734 steps of Napoleon III's underground stair up to Fort Libéria and find the cells where Louis XIV's police held the women of the affaire des poisons — Anne Guesdon for thirty-six years and La Chapelain for forty-three, until they died there
Walk the 250 m of ascent from Casteil up to Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, then find all three churches on the site: the Virgin's, half cut into the rock and barely three metres high, Saint Martin's directly above it, and Saint Michael's up in the separate bell tower
In the abbey cloister, work out which three of the four galleries are the old ones and which was rebuilt from stone taken off a 12th-century upper storey, and pace the irregular quadrilateral — 14 m on three sides, 10 on the west
Before you go
Fort Libéria is privately owned and ticketed; the 734-step underground stair is steep, wet in places and unlit in others, and there is a shuttle from the village for anyone who cannot climb it. Saint-Martin-du-Canigou is a working monastery: the abbey is seen on a guided visit at set times only, and the walk up from Casteil is 250 m of ascent on a track where cars are restricted — allow forty minutes each way, in proper shoes. Villefranche itself is a walled village with no parking inside; leave the van outside the gates.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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