Extract from the 'Bulletin de la Société d'études
scientifiques de l'Aude' (Bulletin of the Scientific Research Society
of the Aude), volume XVII, year 1906.
EXCURSION
on the 25 June 1905
TO RENNES-LE-CHATEAU
By Monsieur Elie TISSEYRE
Every year the ancient town of Rhedae, or Rennes-le-Château as it
is now called, sees an increase in the number of excursionists who
come to visit its historic ruins - the ancient remains of days
long past.
The Société d'Etudes scientifiques de l'Aude could
therefore hardly miss paying a visit to the town in order to
search, in its turn, for a new page to add to the history of our département.
And so it was that on 24 June, the day chosen for our excursion to
Rennes-le-Château, a goodly number of our members gathered at the
ticket kiosks of the railway station and, armed with their
tickets, boarded the train in high spirits.
6.15 a.m.: the heavy mass of the train rattled and shook, station
followed station... At the railway station in Alet one of our
colleagues, Monsieur Deville, the Mayor of that delightful town,
joined the party. A few minutes later we were in Couiza. We were
in quite a hurry to get out of the train, as the day promised to
be very hot and it was important to make the climb to Rennes-le-Château
before the heat became too intense. At Couiza two new colleagues
joined our party, which was already of a very respectable size.
The little group set off on foot, admiring in passing the castle
of Couiza, the former seat of the Dukes of Joyeuse, built around
1640 on the banks of the Aude and the Sals.
We could already see - to our right and on the heights - the
ancient towers of the Castle of Rennes, but it was an hour's walk
before we reached the ancient capital of Rhedesium. And so we
climbed the slope, sometimes preceded, sometimes followed by a
small donkey that carried our bags for us. We could not help
noticing that the botanists amongst us were already completely
absorbed in their researches.
9.30 a.m.: at last we reached the summit. By now it was very hot,
but at this altitude (435 metres above sea level) the air was
still fresh. On our journey up we noted the ancient
surrounding-walls or fortifications, of which only a few sections
still remained. Storing our baggage in a safe place we began
immediately with a visit to the Castle. Here, save for some large
high-ceilinged apartments, there was nothing very remarkable to
catch the eye; everything was old, decayed and, above all,
dilapidated. Some of the rooms were still habitable, however, and,
indeed, were being occupied by our luncheon host. So our visit was
a very brief one.
Following a narrow, twisting road we arrived at the property of
Monsieur Auguste Fons, who had recently discovered an ossuary at
the foot of the ancient ramparts of the fortress. And it was
certainly quite an ossuary that was shown to us! One of our
number, armed with a pick, tried digging in order to determine the
thickness of the layer of accumulated remains, but tibia followed
tibia and skulls jostled for space with a simply incalculable
number of femurs - finally, weary from the struggle, we decided to
leave this gruesome place.
Standing on top of a tower of recent construction we were able to
admire the beautiful panorama which unfolded before our eyes. To
our left was the great plain of Lauzet with, in the distance, the
village of Granès and, further to the right, Saint-Ferriol. A
little nearer, straight ahead of us, there seemed to rise on a
small hill the fortress that defended the town of Rennes-le-Château.
Hence the name of the hill: 'Le Casteillas'. But nothing survived
there and it was impossible for the visitor to find any trace of
any structures having been there.
We saw the river Aude winding through the village of Campagne.
There was Espéraza with its high chimneys, an important centre
for the manufacture of woollen bonnets. Further on was the village
of Fa with its ancient tower, known as 'Le tour des signaux' ('the
signal tower'). There was Antugnac, Montazels and Couiza with,
even further to the right, Coustaussa and its ruined castle. But
time was getting on and regretfully we had to leave our
observation post and continue our visit.
The Church (1740) soon loomed ahead of us. The interior was
superb, with attractive paintings exuding freshness and charm. We
looked for some signs of the past there, but in vain. But in a
small garden adjoining the church one of us recognised a crudely
sculpted (or rather engraved) tombstone as dating from the 5th
century; it was unfortunate that this tombstone was being used as
a step of a staircase and was therefore exposed to all the
inclemencies of the open air. It would have been better if it had
been placed inside the church where it could with advantage have
taken the place of some varnished or gilded panel or other.
We also noted, in another small garden, a stone plinth supporting
a statue of the Virgin. This plinth, very old and of beautiful
workmanship, had been retouched on the pretext of giving it a
higher relief: on the contrary, in doing so the workman had
deprived it of any trace of artistry and had destroyed the
preciousness of this ancient piece of sculpture.
A visit to the cemetery enabled us to discover, in a corner, a
wide tombstone, broken in the middle, on which one could read a
very crudely engraved inscription.
This tombstone measured 1.30 metres by 0.65 metres.
‘Here lies the noble Marie de Nègre D’Arles, La Dame
d’Hautpoul de Blanchefort, aged sixty-seven, died 17 January
1781, May she rest in peace’
But then someone came to remind us that it was time for lunch,
which was served in one of the rooms of the Castle. The meal was
certainly of the better standard. An excellent mocha rounded off
the festivities and the first part of our programme. We thanked M.
Auguste Fons for his hospitality and, at the suggestion of M.
Fages, elected him a member of the Society to a round of applause.
Now it was time to leave Rennes-le-Château, but we did not fail
to notice as we left it that the important town of yesteryear
had given way to a village of antiquated, small and badly
constructed houses: some of them - their owners now dead - were
even going to rack and ruin.
The two villages of Rennes-le-Château and Rennes-les-Bains are
not connected by any roads which vehicles can use: rough paths
serving rather for the running of a small farm are the only
thoroughfares.
Taking one of these paths we followed it as far as the small
farm known as 'Les Paliacés' before plunging across the fields,
as we needed to reach the 'Pla de la Côte', where the so-called
'Rocher Tremblant' ('the trembling rock') was located. Once we
arrived there, twenty strong arms embraced the famous rock, which,
we thought, must surely tumble over with the tremendous force
being exerted upon it, but the huge mass did not even budge - or,
at least, hardly at all. To see the number of inscriptions, names
and dates scratched onto the stone one could readily imagine the
vast numbers of tourists who had come here to find out how strong
they really were.
A narrow path soon brought us to Tiffou Mill. Some minutes'
pause was necessary to enable us to smarten up. Finally we were
back at Les Bains de Rennes. The summer sees the arrival there
of huge numbers of people - to drink the waters or to bathe in
them. What in winter is just a small village suddenly finds
itself transformed into a charming and bustling small town. We
noted that a large number of these bathers had already arrived
for the sake of their health. What we needed at that moment was,
first of all, some shade - as it was still very hot - some rest
for our weary limbs and, above all, some refreshments. We found
all these things on the terrace of the Café Cadenat. But
already our coachmen were harnessing their horses to take us
back to Couiza. Leaving our shady terrace with regret we paid a
quick visit to some of the bathing establishments, so quick in
fact that it is impossible to give any precise details about
their modern comforts. 'All aboard - quickly please', came the
cry. Our horses, now well rested, wanted only to return to
Couiza, and they took us there at a lively pace. Here the town
was en fête and the musicians, seated along the
Route Nationale in the shade of fresh plane trees, were sending
the strains of the choicest items from their repertoire into the
summer air. After a snack at Monsieur Igounet's we walked to the
railway station. The train whistled, then began to move - and we
were off! All in all, a very worthwhile and pleasant day.
E. TISSEYRE.
Thank you to Paul
Ferguson for the translation
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