English: The ruined castle of Montréal-de-Sos (Auzat, Ariège, France). It was entirely demolished in the 15th century by its owner the count of Foix. Tons of rubble have covered what is left of the walls for the last five centuries. Then the medieval site became the target of a vast research program that lasted from 2001 to 2017. Over 8000m2 of archaeological site has been uncovered (the discarded rubble from the excavations had to be evacuated by donkeys, some of it being used to pave the track that leads from the village to the castle ; the donkeys also brought up to the castle the materials needed for restoration of some of the ruins such as bags of lime, water a.s.o.).
This is the E-N-E side of the main tower (the dungeon, on the right), or zone 1, viewed towards the S-S-E in 2005, after removal of the covering rubble and restoration of part of these walls, as seen here. Zone 1 was the first area that was entirely excavated.