A spiritual development course combined with a holiday based in an old Château on the bank of the Canal du Midi in the Cathar Minervois SW France.

Tuition will be given every morning and evening and on 3 of the 6 afternoons.  Visits to local places of interest will be arranged on the other 3 afternoons.

The original castle at Ventenac dated back to the twelfth century, when it was captured by Simon de Montfort in the Albigensian crusade against the Cathars. Little or nothing remains of that original building, and although parts of the present Château date back 300 years, most of it was built in the 19th century.

In 1880, working with a group of craftsmen known as Les Compagnons de France, Mme Seguy Saint Siran built the four-storey Château, together with the magnificent Caveau, a turreted 'cathedral to wine', which rises higher than anything else in the village. The initials of Mme Saint Siran can be seen carved into the archway that forms the imposing rear entrance to the Château.

In 1938 the Caveau was taken over by the local winegrowers, who formed a cave co-opérative to make and sell wines using grapes from the rich vineyards around the village. The co-op still makes wine, winning prizes for its rich reds and its characterful white.

The part of the Château we use has now been sympathetically restored to combine the luxuries of modern life with the charm of a byegone age.

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