Walking with Visigoths

The Visigoths, who were a Germanic tribe, challenged the Roman Empire in its dying days. They occupied this part of France from about 400 – 500. The Visigoth Kingdom’s capital was in Toulouse until the Franks drove them into Spain in 507.

Evidence of their time in the Aude can be clearly seen in and around the Minervois village of Villarzel  Carbardes.  So last weekend, following  an article appearing in L’Independent, showing a guided walk, we went off in search of  Visigoth graves.

Setting off, between some houses, near the entrance to the village, on the D335,  ( after a somewhat frustrating drive around the village, looking for the starting point )we followed a reasonably well marked route which took us past some spectacular views, some fascinating local oddities, and eventually to les tombes Wisigoths.

 

After walking through vineyards, where the grapes are starting to hang heavily from the vines, we passed the Chateau de Villarlong, which has been converted to apartments. It was quite a sight. The gardens contain a giraffe and some blue sheep….not what you expect in what looked, otherwise to be, a very formal French garden.

 

Living in Yorkshire, we are used to stone walls and sheep.....but not quite like this.

 

After passing some ancient lavoirs, we came to the church of Saint Pierre. It is almost a ruin…but has beautiful stain glass windows. They looked new, or recently restored, which all seemed a little odd , within the walls of an almost derelict building. Perhaps not so strange as the giraffe and blue sheep though.

 

 

A further walk through vines and  past spectacular cypress trees led to the Visigoth cemetery. The site was excavated in 1967, but was well known , by locals, before that. It was known locally as la Colline des morts.

 

 

It dates from between the 5^th and 7^th centuries and contains 44 graves, arranged in family groupings  on a peaceful hillside. Artifacts found at the site includes earrings, bracelets, pottery  and drinking glasses. These can now be seen at a small museum in the village.

 

 

We started the walk early, to avoid the heat but by the time we had arrived at the grave site, the sun was quite high.  This was my first longish walk for sometime, so we sat for a while, under the trees alongside the graves. The ancient branches gave a subtle filtered sunlight to the peaceful, gentle scene.

 

We continued through more open fields, and vineyards, and past some beautiful views of the mountains. This included Montagne d’Alirac….named after the king who led the Visigoth army when they sacked Rome in 410.

 We were very tempted to pick the rose-hips and blackberries which seemed to be growing everywhere, and eventually wound our way back to our starting point.

The circular walk is about 7kms, and took us about 2 hours. It was all gentle walking, with no particularly difficult inclines…..perfect for me…….and , it was beautiful.