Beneath its wild and bucolic appearance, Ariège shelters a strong tradition of art and craftsmanship dating from the origins of humanity, and inherited from its industrial past. Visiting museums, animal sites, initiation into astronomy, exploring caves or castles… there are so many places to see in Ariège Pyrénées!
So what to do in Ariège?
✔️ Explore the castles less known than the famous castle of foix, but just as charming, like the one by Miglos or Lordat, places of refuge for the Cathars, witness to the hunt for these insurgents by the Kingdom of France in the XNUMXthe s.
✔️ Getting lost in the typical small villages of our mountains and plains. Seix, a village on the border with Spain in its southern part, Camon, the most beautiful village in France, Saint Martin d'Oyde, the only rounded bastide preserved in Occitania, who have watched from close up or from afar the evolution of the territory over the centuries: from the exploitation of mines and quarries to the arrival of tourism.
✔️ Stroll through the rich caves in geological treasures: stalactites, stalagmites, underground lakes, as in earthworms or to labouiche or see traces of the passage of our ancestors, wall art, drawings and enigmatic symbols, as in Niaux visit us at the Mas-d'Azil or to Bedeilhac.
✔️ Go to museums and interpretation centers as to Forges of Pyrene in Montgailhard, rich in 6 tools saved from oblivion, take part in a visit, that of the gigantic talc quarry de Luzenac, meet the artisans who revive the ancestral know-how of the destination.
✔️ Let yourself be surprised and seduced by the contemporary art of Ariège. The creations of artists from Mirepoix or Foix, well anchored in their time in art galleries or in the streets of Carla-bayle, village of artists where it is pleasant to stroll during the beautiful summer days.