La Tour Régine – This is one of four separate structures that comprise Châteaux de Lastours. Originally there were three 11th century fortifications built along the rocky spine of a ridge 300 meters (about 990 feet) above the village of Lastours. Because the sides of the ridge were so steep, it wasn’t necessary to construct a wall surrounding the fortified structures. It was home to the lords of Cabaret who were followers of the Cathar Christian sect. Eventually, the crusade against the Cathars succeeded and the land became part of the kingdom of Isle de France. To affirm his domination of the area, the French king had this fort, La Tour Régine, added.
Lastours was one of our favorite stops when Becky and I had our bicycle touring business in France.
Even though, technically, La Tour Régine is not a Cathar castle, I take poetic license to call it one, because it could not have been built without the slaughter of the Cathar believers.
To separate the planes of the image, I used seven masked layers: path, rock outcroppings, foreground, background and sky, and castle. Most of the adjustments were made to the brightness and contrast of the various masked areas.