Location

The Chateau of the Great Sun is situated within the wonderful village of Souilhe in the Département of Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon in the South West of France. The area is well known for its beautiful scenery and excellent wine regions. To find out more about the village, the nearest city and the history of the Chateau, please click on the links below:

The Village | Carcassonne | History

The Village of Souilhe - View Photos
Souilhe is a typical 'chateau village' with around 250 inhabitants and large village square - the Place des Marroniers, with shady chestnut trees. It has its own Mairie and church, which has been beautifully restored. Mass is sung once a month. The church bells ring the hour (twice) and the half hour, but mercifully not during the night!

The village has a children’s playground and football/rugby pitch. There are lovely views of two other chateaux in the valley from the play area. There is a small boulangerie and hairdresser. The butcher calls twice a week.

The villagers are extremely friendly; the Languedoc region has long had a reputation for tolerance and welcoming strangers. The local accent is a little difficult at first - it has a tinge of Catalan in it, presumably from the time when the Langue D'Oc (i.e. east of the Rhone) was spoken.

In Spring, the hedgerows are full of irises and poppies. In Summer, the village is surrounded by wheat fields and the golden glow of thousands of sunflowers.Please follow this link to View Photos

The Nearest City - Carcassonne
La Cité at Carcassonne, a complete mediaeval city beautifully restored in the C19th, is like something out of a fairy tale with its 50 odd towers - it is magical floodlit. It has a particularly good confectionary shop and sells masses of china dolls and tapestries.

Mirepoix, a delightful black and white town with magnificent cathedral, can be visited on the way to the Pyrenees. The Montagne Noire are worth seeing. There is a llama farm where the owners take visitors on guided tours, lakes, caves and spectacular scenery. Albi has an amazing cathedral which dominates the city. Castres is famous for the Musee Goya.

Near Carcassonne there is an Australian animal park and near Narbonne, a Safari Park. At Esperaza, near Limoux (another old town worth seeing) is a dinosaur museum and some very famous prehistoric caves as well as a wonderful almost English country garden.

The C8th Abbaye de St Papoul, is nearby. It has a beautiful 14th century cloister and a magnificent church. Montolieu, the book village of France (modelled on Haye on Wye) is a tiny village nearby, boasting 12 book shops. The pink brick centre of Toulouse is an excellent shopping centre. Nearby is the 'Cité de l'espace' - a space park well worth visiting.

History
The Chateau is a military castle built in the 13th Century (after the Albigensian Crusade), perched on a small hill protecting the village to the north. It was twice the centre of action in the Wars of Religion - in 1580 when it was taken by the Huguenots and in 1627, when the amassed Catholic forces met the Huguenots in the valley below the chateau.

The Chateau originally had four very long galleries on both floors on either side leading to the south to two watch towers or echauguettes.

We have been told by villagers that there is a tunnel from the cellar to the mill at Castelnaudary, some 7 kms away. Apparently, it was built in the early 17th Century when the de Mollevilles owned both chateau and the mill. More recently, it was reputedly used by the Resistance Movement in the 2nd World War.

The typical large semi-spherical tower to the north west may have housed prisoners when the Seigneur had the right to imprison, fine and put villagers in the stocks. Apparently Cardinal Richelieu ordered the cannon platform of local towers to be cut down to debase the local nobility so the tower is a little lower than it would have been. Most recently it was used as a pigeonnier. The last Seigneur of the chateau was Bertrand de Molleville, Louis XVI's Naval Minister who made his fortune milling woad.

On the ground floor in what is now the Salon of the apartment was the ballroom, used by many villagers to celebrate their weddings.

The Mayor also had his office here until shortly after the last war.