Located near the Naurouze Threshold, the water divide between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the village of Montferrand occupies the summit and the slopes of a hill used in the Middle Ages for its defensive value. The highest point has an orientation table that directs the gaze towards the Montagne Noire, the Lauragais plain and, further south, towards the Pyrenees. Below, the national road follows the route of the ancient Voie d'Aquitaine which, in Roman times, served a veritable agglomeration of some 15 hectares, cited as Elusiodunum as early as the 1st century BC. The site was equipped with a Christian place of worship and a necropolis from the 5th century and until the 8th century. This funerary complex was the subject of archaeological excavations in the 1950s and additional research in the 2000s. The remains of a basilica with sarcophagi are still visible. Not far away, another church probably appeared in the Carolingian era, known as Saint-Pierre d'Alzonne. It has survived to the present day and its cemetery is still in use. The entrance to the church houses a small collection of discoidal stelae (ancient medieval signs of burial). The fortified village, the castrum de Montferrand, probably appeared in the 12th century and was a stronghold at the beginning of the 13th century, during the Crusade against the Albigensians. The site of the old castle has been transformed, a medieval tower-gate, still visible, testifies to this change at the end of the Middle Ages.

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