Forteresse de Salses: discovering history on the autoroutes of France

Last week, I found myself wondering if the Aire du Château de Salses is the most interesting rest area on the entire French motorway network. Located roughly half-way between Perpignan and Narbonne, it has no restaurant, no shop, no petrol pumps. At first sight all it can offer is a toilet block and a newly-installed drinks vending machine, but if you ignore these creature comforts and walk down the slope towards the sea, push open a gate and cross a short stretch of desert studded with pine trees, you will reach the Forteresse de Salses.

When construction of the fort began in 1497, this part of France belonged to Spain. The border was where the departments of Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales meet today. The Forteresse de Salses was five kilometres inside Spanish territory and its purpose was to stop any incursion from the French side of the border.

Its architect, Ramiro Lopez, was head of the royal artillery and he used his experience of smashing down defences to design something that would resist enemy salvoes from bronze cannon much better than a medieval castle. With its round towers and curvaceous moats, the Forteresse de Salses was a precursor of the type of angular fortress which evolved during the course of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Forteresse de Salses was designed to house 1,500 soldiers and it also had stables for 300 cavalry horses. To feed this large garrison, there was a cowshed, a dairy and a bakery which you can still see (unfortunately you won't see any horses, cows, bakers or milkmaids today).

The first siege occurred in 1503, and the Spanish defenders were able to repel the French attackers. The French had more luck in 1639, but the Spanish won it back the following year. Move on two more years, and a French army was able to take permanent control during a Catalan rebellion against the Spanish crown.

With the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, the whole of Roussillon was handed over to France, the border was moved 40 kilometres south and the Forteresse de Salses became redundant. It was classified as a Monument Historique in 1886.

During the remainder of my drive home, I remembered another couple of autoroute rest areas which offer easy access to historical patrimoine. Between Cahors and Montauban, Aire de Bois de Dourre has an outstanding octagonal pigeon tower which you can admire while you are filling up with petrol. Between Carcassonne and Toulouse, Aire de Port Lauragais sits on the Canal du Midi and there is a free interpretation centre explaining the history of the canal and the importance of the woad industry in the Lauragais.

If the length of time I spent in each of these places is any measure of their historical interest, the Forteresse de Salses wins the title of ‘Most Interesting Autoroute Rest Area in France’.

Practical note
Although Salses is usually referred to as a fortress, Vinci Autoroutes calls its two rest areas Aire du Château de Salses Est and Aire du Château de Salses Ouest. I was heading north, but if you are travelling in the other direction, there is a foot tunnel beneath the autoroute so that you can reach the fortress safely.

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