Forteresse de Salses

The Brick Colossus at the Gates of Catalonia Located at the foot of the Corbières mountains, the Salses Fortress is a unique monument, marking the fascinating transition between the medieval castle and the modern bastioned fortification. Built at the end of the 15th century by the Spanish Catholic Monarchs to block the French armies, it is striking for its brick and stone battleship-like appearance, literally embedded in the ground. Unlike medieval castles that sought height, Salses is built into the ground to offer the least possible target to cannonballs, an architectural revolution for its time. Its prodigiously thick walls (up to 12 meters) and deep moats made it a fortress renowned for being impregnable. Exploring the interior of the fortress is a labyrinthine experience. Inside, one discovers a veritable garrison town capable of housing 1,500 men and hundreds of horses in complete self-sufficiency. The route leads from the vaulted stables to the bakeries, passing by the parade ground and the keep, a veritable castle within a castle. The ingenuity of the defensive system, with its narrow corridors and strategic arrow slits, testifies to the genius of Spanish military engineers. Now a national monument, Salses remains the steadfast guardian of the old border, offering a striking contrast between the power of its gleaming red structure and the azure blue of the Roussillon sky.