Château de Périllos, medieval castle

The Château de Périllos is a castle ruin perched on a hilltop in the abandoned village of Périllos, part of Opoul-Périllos in the Pyrenees-Orientales region. A square tower from the 11th century still stands with walls about 4.8 feet (1.45 meters) thick, surrounded by the remains of a defensive wall, with the northern and eastern sides reaching heights of more than 26 feet (8 meters).

The castle was the seat of a barony raised to a viscounty at the end of the 13th century, whose first lord was Ramon Seguer de Perelons. His descendants, notably the brothers Ramon and Miquel de Périllos, sons of Francesc de Périllos, held posts in Catalonia and in the Kingdom of France; Ramon became first viscount of Périllos. Though held by a different lord from Opoul and Salses, it stood on the border line with the Kingdom of France alongside those two castles. The surviving walls date to the 12th–13th centuries.

The castle gave its name to the Perellós lineage: Ramon Seguer de Perelons was the first lord of the barony raised to a viscounty at the end of the 13th century, and Ramon de Perellós became its first viscount. The ruins stand beside the church of Saint-Michel, on the north-west side, at the highest point of the village.

Access is via a narrow and rough road from nearby Opoul, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) away. Wear sturdy shoes as you explore the ruins on the hillside, and note that the area is quite remote with few facilities nearby.

The castle belonged to a different lord than the nearby castles of Opoul and Salses, yet all three formed one frontier line facing the Kingdom of France. Its first viscount, Ramon de Périllos, was the son of Francesc de Périllos, whom King Peter IV of Aragon made viscount of Rueda and Épila. Look for the raised door jamb on the east side, level with the tower's first floor.