| Lastours | |
| Commune Status: | Commune |
| Image Coat Of Arms: | Blason ville fr Lastours (Aude).svg |
| Arrondissement: | Carcassonne |
| Canton: | La Vallée de l'Orbiel |
| Insee: | 11194 |
| Postal Code: | 11600 |
| Mayor: | Max Brail[1] |
| Term: | 2020 - 2026 |
| Coordinates: | 43.335°N 2.3797°W |
| Elevation M: | 180 |
| Elevation Min M: | 163 |
| Elevation Max M: | 383 |
| Area Km2: | 2.80 |
Lastours (Occitan (post 1500);: Las Tors) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.
Lastours is located outside Carcassonne, in the valley of the Orbiel. There are four small castles each built on a large 300 m high rocky ridge. The castles were built to control the access to the Montagne Noire and the Cabardes region. These are some of the few original Cathar castles left.
Traces of human occupation date back to prehistory in a cave called the Trou de la ville at the foot of the Lastours castles. The history of the village is linked to the different occupations of the castles of Lastours.[2]
The development of metallurgy has been known in Lastours since Antiquity. Indeed, the region is rich in iron, copper, lead and gold and is an important center of mining extraction. The village is surrounded by mining deposits:
The village was only served by a road from 1863. In the 19th century, the cloth industry flourished in Lastours.