Bjelaj castle, locally known as Stari Grad Bjelaj (Bjelaj old town), is a medieval town-fortress complex near the village of Bjelaj, Bosanski Petrovac.
Located on the edge of the Petrovac plain (or part thereof Bjelajsko fields), on the northern slope of the Osječenica mountain. The area around the city is uninhabited and lean. The whole complex is situated on a plateau about 850 metres long.
On the south end of the northern half, there is a great fort, a prehistoric site from the Bronze and Iron Age. On the north end, there is a small fort. The fort itself has two parts: a medieval southern and northern Ottoman part. The medieval town has a ground plan of an irregular rectangle over 40 meters long and a width of about 35 meters. From the tower on the west side is the beginning of the remains of a large pen that was added along with the medieval city in the Ottoman period.
First mentioned in written sources in 1495 and named after the whiteness (or tint) by which it stood out above Bjelajsko field. Between 1530 and 1537, Bjelaj came under Ottoman rule.
Bjelaj has two parts: the southern medieval and northern Ottoman part. The medieval city has a layout of irregular rectangles over 40 m long (north-south) and about 35 m wide (east-west). The entrance to the city is in the northward.
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The Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.
In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians.