Camps-sur-l'Agly: Hiking and Historical Heritage

Camps-sur-l'Agly is a small village on a hill, at the boundaries of Peyrepertuses, Fenouillède and Razès. The village overlooks the Agly, which rises here. Two aspects stand out when planning your trip: the landscape and its hiking trails, and a history that can be read in its streets, façades and stone monuments.

Hiking and landscape

The 26-square-kilometre municipal area extends from large forests in the north to the La Serre plateau in the south. Its landscapes also include Pic de Bugarach, Roc Paradet and the Gorges de Galamus.

On the La Serre plateau, marked trails wind through meadows and garrigue dotted with wildflowers. Garrigue is a type of low Mediterranean scrubland. The Sentier des contrebandiers du sel offers a different experience: this 12-kilometre trail has remarkable views of the Pyrenees, Pech de Bugarach and Canigou. Vegetation is the defining feature of La Serre, while the length of the trail and its far-reaching views set the Sentier apart.

The ZNIEFF protected area “L'Agly et ses affluents de la source au Pas de la Fumado” extends from northwest of Camps-sur-l'Agly to southeast of Cubières-sur-Cinoble. Small paths and a Petite-Randonnée trail cross the area. If you plan a walk there, check the current official boundaries, trail conditions and signage.

History and heritage

The fortified bastide of La Bastide is considered a site of exceptional historical and archaeological interest. The surviving medieval masonry suggests that it was built in the second half of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th century. Four parallel streets and two perpendicular streets define four rectangular blocks of buildings.

Individual buildings also feature striking details. The wrought-iron Croix de la Passion is 3.20 metres high; its size, age and quality of workmanship give it particular heritage value. On the façade of the Maison du Chevalier is a sculpted relief created in 1790, depicting a stylised façade of the castle. At the Maison Fabre, a sculpted bust is located at first-floor level; below it is a cartouche from 1789 bearing several tools.

The present-day Notre Dame de l’Assomption church replaced a medieval church dedicated to Saint John. The arch leading to the eastern side chapel and the adjoining dressed stonework are Gothic and date from the late 14th or 15th century.

The history of the area reaches far back: natural resources, nearby ore deposits and the terrain favoured human settlement from the Neolithic onwards. Visigothic graves dating from the 5th or 6th century attest to human presence during this period.

The dolmens preserve tangible traces of this early period. The Dolmen of L’Auzina probably dates from the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic, around 4000 to 2000 BC; four large limestone slabs remain. East of Camps-sur-l'Agly lies the Dolmen of Roc d’En Bertrand, also known as Roc d’En Benoît. It probably dates from the late Neolithic and consists of a heavily cracked limestone slab about 1.8 metres long, resting on rock blocks. Another historical landmark is the hamlet of Campeau, which was abandoned in the 1960s.

Discover more destinations: Couiza, Tourouzelle, Villalier, Tuchan, Rieux-Minervois, Moussoulens, Lacombe, Gaja-Et-Villedieu

For the main travel overview: Aude.