Castrum and Saint-Michel de Mourcairol chapel, Les Aires

On a rocky promontory overlooking the Orb valley, above the village of Les Aires in the west of the Hérault, stand the ruins of the castrum of Saint-Michel de Mourcairol. The castle, built in the 10^th century, was enlarged and inhabited until the 15^th century. Its chapel, dedicated to Saint Michael, is mentioned as early as 1182. The whole site is protected as a monument historique.

A castle coveted for its silver

Pottery shards and coins show that the site was already occupied in Roman times. The original castle appears in the 10^th century under the Latin name Mercariolo castrum, and its first written mention appears in the will of Guillaume II, Viscount of Béziers and Agde. Its location is explained by the nearby roads and the proximity of the silver mines of Villemagne-l'Argentière, which the regional lords fought over. In 1164, Raimond Trencavel and Ermengarde of Narbonne even used it as a boundary marker to divide their rights. At the end of the 11^th and the beginning of the 12^th century, the Trencavels added towers and an enclosure below, and a village formed, with dwellings that may have housed knights.

From abandonment to hermitage

At its height, the castrum had around a hundred inhabitants. It declined at the end of the 14^th century, no doubt because of the Hundred Years' War, epidemics and famine, and was then abandoned in the 15^th century. It was briefly reoccupied during the Wars of Religion. In the 17^th century, the Bishop of Béziers, Clément de Bonsi, noted the dilapidation of the chapel: it was restored and became a place of hermitage. Until 1845, the commune itself was called Mourcairol, before being renamed Les Aires.

What you discover up there

The site covers four hectares. The original castle, protected by its enclosure, remains the main feature, along with the chapel and two cisterns. It has belonged to the commune since then, and archaeological research has been carried out there since 2003. The chapel has been listed as a monument historique since 1963, and the protection has covered the whole castrum since 2014. The Les Aires area also has springs, one of which bears the name of Saint-Michel de Mourcairol.

Feeling the place

Mourcairol is one of those discreet sites that enthusiasts of energy places like to pass on to one another. A chapel dedicated to Saint Michael, perched on a spur above the Orb, and more than a thousand years of history on the same spot no doubt account for much of its appeal. The commune lies within the Haut-Languedoc regional nature park. Have you been up there? Share below the impression this energy place left on you.