|This article may be expanded with text translated from the
corresponding article in the French Wikipedia. (December 2008)|
|— Department —| |• President of the General Council||Augustin
Bonrepaux (PS)| |• Total||4,890 km2 (1,890 sq mi)| |•
Density||30/km2 ( 79/sq mi)| |Time zone||CET (UTC+1)| |• Summer
(DST)||CEST (UTC+2)| |^1 French Land Register data, which
exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1
km2| Foix is the administrative capital of the Ariège. It is an
ancient medieval town with a fortress Chateau de Foix perched on
a hill overlooking it. The fortress has been attacked many times
without capture, including an attempt by Simon de Montfort. It
has also been used as a prison, and the names of English
prisoners of war can still be seen on the cell walls. Another
famous chateau in the Ariège is Montségur, located on a rocky
outcrop at a height of 1200 metres (3,900 ft). During the
Albigensian Crusade and siege of 1244 AD the chateau was largely
destroyed, with more than two hundre