THE ROUND PATH. The keep of the castle of Arques, one of the most beautiful in France, built in gilded sandstone, is a masterpiece of Gothic art inspired by Ile-de-France. It combines elegance, luxury and military aspect. Recently restored, the keep of the castle of Arques remains the witness of the technical and artistic know-how of the builders of the medieval period. In 1217, during the Aibigeois crusade, Simon de Montfort took and burned the castle and the village of Arques. In 1231, he gave the lordship as a reward to his lieutenant, Pierre de Voisins. At the end of the 13th century, his son, Gilles de Voisins, rebuilt the village called a "bastide" and began the construction of the current castle. His own son, Gilles II, completed its construction around 1316. It was at the request of Simon de Montfort that the new castle was built to guard this part of Razès. The aim was to control the transhumance routes followed by the Cathars who arrived in Corbières through the Pyrenees, because Cathar propaganda, it was said, took the route of the sheep. Built a few hundred meters from the village, the castle of Arques is located on the plain on the banks of the Riaises and is surrounded by numerous forests. The site is surprising for its poor suitability for defense: it is in fact a mound of mediocre importance, dominated on all sides by surrounding heights. The plan is that of a classic plain castle. The quadrangular enclosure is pierced in the center by a pointed arch door equipped with a stumbling block and decorated at the top with a keystone with the coat of arms of the Voisins family. Many buildings must have existed along the enclosure, but only two are still visible in the best-preserved southern part. The south-east corner is occupied by the old chapel (converted into a dwelling in the 20th century), while the south-west corner houses a tower-house of great interest. Dating from the 15th century, this building has two levels. The lower room, partially underground, is barrel-vaulted and pierced with three small light openings. The upper room is lit by two twin trilobed windows. It has a ribbed vault falling on four artfully sculpted corbels. The figures represented have a stylistic similarity with those of the Château de Puivert. In the small adjoining tower, a spiral staircase serves the two levels. It has an arrowslit to the north, above the door. But what makes the Château d'Arques famous is its keep, perfectly preserved and whose elegant proportions, the quality of the equipment and the beauty of the sandstone used make it one of the most beautiful in France. 13 metres on each side and 25 metres high, it rises in the centre of the enclosure and is made up of four levels. It is flanked at the four corners by watchtowers mounted on two rectangular buttresses. There does not appear to have been any crenellation or machicolations at the top of the keep. What strikes the observer when seeing this keep is its armament. As much as the defences of the gate of the enclosure are mediocre, those of the keep are overabundant. The entrance gate is surmounted by a stile. Each side has two stirrup arrow slits on the ground floor and four other spade arrow slits (widened at the base) on the upper floors (five on the front face). On each of the watchtowers there are six arrowslits with spades. The squinches that support the base of the watchtowers are pierced with an opening, forming a machicolation. These turrets allow a defense without dead angles. The interior has four levels: the two at the bottom are vaulted with ribs, the other two with planks. The lower level has a trapdoor in the center of its vault used to hoist provisions. The second and third denote a certain level of comfort with the large fireplace that brought heat to these floors. The fourth, with its magnificent roof frame, corresponds to the main defense floor. The garrison was housed in this octagonal room. The walls are symmetrically pierced with arrowslits and rectangular bays. About forty soldiers could defend this keep at the same time. The four levels are served by a spiral staircase in the southeast watchtower. The engineer who designed the keep of the castle of Arques demonstrated a consummate science of the arrangement of the firing organs, while giving this monument an undeniable elegance. It appears as a true masterpiece of construction and a model of the art of defense.