“We are now in the heart of Visigoth country. It remains to us only to visit the capital of the Razès, the former Rédé, known to the Romans as Rhedae. At the exit from Couiza a road rises steeply to the left – that's the road to Rennes-le-Château. Outlined against the ridge of the plateau is a most unusual sight: ruined houses and a dilapidated feudal castle overhang – and are partly mixed up with – the chalk-cliff. Then we see villas and towers with verandahs, which are new and modern and which form a strange contrast with the ruins. This is the house of a priest who built these sumptuous living-quarters with the money from a discovered treasure – or so the locals say anyway!”

Dr Jean Girou, L’itinéraire en Terre d’Aude (Causse, Graille & Castelnau, Montpellier; 1936).

Docteur Jean Girou
Profils Occitans: Antoine Bourdelle, Aristide Maillol, Achille Laugé
(Carcassonne: Éditions d'art Jordy, 1930)