chateau de salses

Drove over for a visit on Sunday and it was closed. Missed the note on their web site that they are open in the morning and the again after 2pm.From the outside it looks like an impressive fort. Very well kept. Was worth the drive.

Truly mind blowing the skill of the engineering and architecture. Take the guided tour, it is only in French but we found someone who translated for us in English.

Well worth a visit if you are in the area. It's a lovely chateau with loads of history. It's easy to get there, too. It's on the road to Spain.

We had really nice tour in the castle of Salses. We participated on French tour, because we would have needed to wait for two hours for the English tour. We didn't know before hand, that you need to participate a tour to see the castle so couldn't time our visit to the English tour.I understand little bit French but despite that, the tour was great! Not too short, not too long. The history of the castle was very interesting. They have nice gift store there with lot's of children's comics and books about medieval times in Cathar castles but unfortunately they are all in French. We would have bought many of those if they would have been in English!

Visit and learn about the life of a stronghold just about the Treaty of Pyrenees in 1659. The guide was friendly and provided many historical details.

We visited the Fortress of Salses in late August and had a fascinating guided tour of what turns out to be a landmark in fortification technology. It was the first fort to be built to withstand an attack from artillery and it was also designed so that it could not be quickly over-run. There are over three kilometers of passageways within the fort which twist and turn and rise and fall. There are also many junctions so that invaders, even when inside the fort, could easily become lost or disoriented. If that were not enough, there are hidden strong-points within the system of corridors that allowed defenders to rake attackers with cannonade fire. The guided tour takes about 40 minutes and allows access to parts of the fortress that cannot be visited if you view the fort alone. There is a good shop at the end of the tour. It is well worth a visit. .

If you love old fortresses this is a must stop. It has it all and seems to be fully intact. Well worth the visit our even just the view from the motor way. A high light of our trip.

There is a lot to see and learn about the chateau - it has a few surprises inside. Fabulous views from the higher walls.

I totally agree with much of the comments made about the highlights outside Perpignan; however, there has been a screw up in the comments. The first recommended place is the Chateau de Salses and the second is the fort of Salses. Please note there is an error as both places are the same. We spent time looking for both sights, but found out they exist as one monument

I though this was an amazingly clever building. Like some of the other reviews said it was made new. Not like other fortresses often renovated.Clever ways to defend it. Built like a maze. Even holes in the kitchen to shoot from might the enemey get that far.To bad our tour guide didnt speak english. And our frensh is kinda weak so we barely got anything from what she said. But it were the nice parts of the fort.The free entry for under 25year old was also a bonus ;)Definatly a good place to visit.

Built in its today shape by the famous architect Vauban it was never used as a fortress to defend the French border as was its destiny when built. In 1659 with the Treaty oft he Pyrenees it was miles behind the border (France took over the Catalonia nord at the time). There are other villages as for example "Latour de France" which have been situated at the border before this treaty and are now in the middle of the department of the "Pyrenées orientales".This castle with its meter wide walls is worth a visit as it stayed unchanged over the centuries.

Not really being into war games but very into history, I went to this ancient site not expecting to be as engaged as I was. It is quite a remarkable place and if you like history it will appeal to both men and women. A site definitely worth seeing.

The chateau is easy to find and well signposted to the north of the town on Salses. Please note that the signposts will take you to the car park and there is a €2 parking charge. There is then a 5-10 minute walk to the chateau through a winery and under a narrow railway bridge with no pavement and then along to the chateau. There is a free car park beside a public park which is under the railway bridge and a lot closer to the chateau. Entry charges are €7.50 per adult and no charge for children. The chateau is huge so even although it was busy there was not a crowd or any problems having to wait on seeing things. Charges are therefore good value for money. Around 2/3 of the chateau is free to wander around and there is a leaflet in English. However, one third of the chateau (as per previous reviews) is only with a guide. Our guide had a great knowledge but only spoke in French very quickly (not similar to previous reviews who had bilingual guides). There were around 40 (i.e. 10 or so families) in our group which was quite large so it was difficult to hear if you were at the back. There were probably around 4 non-French speaking families and you could see some of the children starting to get bored early on into the tour. It would have been better if there was a leaflet in English and other European languages with the guided part or if the guide spoke more slowly and clearer to accommodate the many people in the tour who did not have French as their first language. The chateau was originally built around 1500 so at over 500 years old is very interesting with the battles between the Spanish and French. The tour lasts one hour which I personally found too much and the rest of the chateau is no more than one hour so spend no more than 2 hours here. There is a shop selling souvenirs at the end of the tour but no catering facilities so bring your own picnic and drinks. If you are in the area then this is easy to find, good value for money, good parking and interesting.

Well Worth having a look here. Very interesting tour and a very knowledgeable guide who is multilingual. It does get roasting tho so be sure to bring water.

Chateau de Salses is not hard to find. As you head north on the A9 past Perpignan on the way to Narbonne you will see signs and later the castle from the highway to your right. Pull into the highway rest stop (called "aires" in France) of the same name. The fortress is visible from the edge of the parking lot which lies at a higher elevation but trees partly block the view. Take the time to head down and explore this magnificent structure.There are many other names for this fortification: Château fort de Salses Fort de Salses, Forteresse de Salses. The word 'salses' apparently refers to salty waters of the area. The castle was built on a coastal plain between the Corbières mountains and the tidal marshes and lagoons (called "étangs" in French) by the Mediterranean Sea. You can see parts of the fortress from the parking lot as well as the lagoon waters not far beyond it. Note that this is NOT one of the many Cathar Castles that dot this area of southern France. The latter were built from the 11th through 13th centuries by the Cathars on the tops of hills and mountains farther inland as defensive positions during their long persecution. Château de Salses, on the other hand, was built later by the Spaniards in the late 15th century, albeit on the site of a prior fortification. Not only was it set in the lowlands it was actually built sunk into the ground and, as you approach it, there does not seem to be too much of the structure above ground level as one might expect of a castle. When you do get up close, however, you realize that the walls are still very tall and surrounded by a deep and wide moat. King Ferdinand of Aragon (Spain) built this fortress to defend his northern border against the French. Unlike fortresses built atop mountains the fortress would better control the coastal plain and trade and travel that would take place along here. It is thought to be a good example of military architecture transitioning from medieval castles to a more modern defensive design. The thick walls were designed to resist metal cannon balls. There is an outer wall, a wide and deep moat then the thick inner walls and towers. It was designed with its own secure water source. 1500 men and 300 horses were reportedly housed here. Despite all this the Chateau de Salses did not last long when besieged exchanging hands 4 times between the French and Spaniards between 1500 and 1642. All this info can be accessed online, of course; but nothing beats a good guide and it sounds like fellow-reviewers had good experience with theirs.