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Founded: 13th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)
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Perched on a hill overlooking the plain of Revel, Château de Montgey is beautiful private castle built in the 12th, 13th and 17th centuries and the church and its newly restored tower.
If it is difficult to date the first castle, there is no doubt that it existed at the beginning of the 13th century. During the crusade of the Albigenses, in spring 1211, the Crusaders suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Montgey. In retaliation, Simon de Montfort, destroyed village and castel. It is rebuilt quickly after by his lord, Jourdain de Roquefort, a close to the count of Toulouse Raymond VII.
The castle changes owner several times, according to sales, marriages or legacies, passing the wars of religion without damage. Adjoining buildings are built on vaulted cellar in the 18th century outside the ramparts and a small crenellated dungeon overlooking the roofs in the 19th century.
The Externsteine (Extern stones) is a distinctive sandstone rock formation located in the Teutoburg Forest, near the town of Horn-Bad Meinberg. The formation is a tor consisting of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills. Archaeological excavations have yielded some Upper Paleolithic stone tools dating to about 10,700 BC from 9,600 BC.
In a popular tradition going back to an idea proposed to Hermann Hamelmann in 1564, the Externsteine are identified as a sacred site of the pagan Saxons, and the location of the Irminsul (sacral pillar-like object in German paganism) idol reportedly destroyed by Charlemagne; there is however no archaeological evidence that would confirm the site's use during the relevant period.
The stones were used as the site of a hermitage in the Middle Ages, and by at least the high medieval period were the site of a Christian chapel. The Externsteine relief is a medieval depiction of the Descent from the Cross. It remains controversial whether the site was already used for Christian worship in the 8th to early 10th centuries.
The Externsteine gained prominence when Völkisch and nationalistic scholars took an interest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This interest peaked under the Nazi regime, when the Externsteine became a focus of nazi propaganda. Today, they remain a popular tourist destination and also continue to attract Neo-Pagans and Neo-Nazis.