Also known as Lapradelle-Puilaurens, the municipality of Puilaurens in the Aude department is home to 265 inhabitants called Puilaurenois and borders the Pyrénées-Orientales department. The village is mostly known for the Château de Puilaurens, a fortified castle and former Cathar refuge. In the shade of the fortress, Lapradelle-Puilaurens is also home to the Fanges forest, an ancient fir forest that served as a supply point for wood for the masts of the boats of Louis XIV's fleet. The royal and municipal forests were separated by a wall of which some stones engraved with a fleur-de-lis can still be found to this day.