Lavelanet (French pronunciation: [lavlanɛ]; L'Avelhanet in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan) is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France.

The name of the fortified castle "Castelsarrasin" also recalls the stay of the Moors in this area (this information being based on hypotheses).

The wool is worked in small spinning mills powered by the water of the river Touyre; weaving is done at home in the surrounding towns and countryside.

Carts transported products to the fairs of Carcassonne, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Beaucaire, but the slowness of communications at the time and the distance from points of consumption prevents this industry from evolving.

[4] In 1204, the mother of Raimond de Péreille, defender of Montségur and co-lord of Lavelanet, established a community of Cathars women there.

The county of Foix corresponded approximately to the Ariège basin and included two regions separated by the limestone barrier of the massif Plantaurel.

Upon hearing of this sacking, the inhabitants of neighboring castles burned their own homes and sought shelter in the Châteaux de Montségur.

In his deposition before the Inquisition in 1244, Raymond de Péreille, lord of Montségur, explains that he "saw the Cathars publicly holding their houses in Lavelanet, with his ' consent and his will ».